- The suspension covers all home appliances, including TVs, monitors, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines, while the smartphone business remains unaffected.
- Facing the strong rise of local brands and fierce price wars, Samsung's home appliance business has long been operating at a loss in the Chinese market.
Samsung has announced its decision to halt the sale of all home appliances in the Chinese mainland in response to a rapidly changing market environment.
The suspended products cover all home appliances, including TVs, monitors, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines. Meanwhile, the smartphone business is unaffected by this adjustment, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
Confronted with the robust rise of domestic brands and intense price wars, the South Korean tech giant has ultimately chosen to divest its long-loss-making home appliance sales operations in the Chinese market.
Over the past decade, Samsung has experienced a severe contraction in its Chinese home appliance market share. Its annual TV shipments in China have plummeted from a peak of 2.55 million units to less than 500,000.
In the white goods sector, such as refrigerators and washing machines, Samsung faces equally daunting challenges, with its offline market share now falling below the marginal 1% threshold.
The formidable rise of Xiaomi, known for its ultimate cost-effectiveness, and Haier's Casarte, positioned in the premium market, has dealt a severe blow to Samsung, which has stubbornly clung to a high-price strategy in China.
Samsung's highly centralized management model at its headquarters and misjudgments regarding display technology roadmaps have made it difficult for the company to keep pace with the rapid iterations of the Chinese consumer market, local media outlet Yicai reported on Thursday, citing industry insiders.
Notably, this strategic retreat comes at a time when Samsung's semiconductor business profits have hit a record high, pushing its market capitalization past the $1 quadrillion mark, driven by surging memory chip prices.
Exiting the Chinese home appliance market during a period of stellar overall financial performance will help Samsung further optimize its financial structure and focus on core profitable segments.
Samsung's complete withdrawal will free up considerable premium market space in the Chinese home appliance industry. Industry insiders widely expect top brands such as Sony, Hisense, and TCL to rapidly carve up this remaining market share.
Meanwhile, Samsung has made a clear commitment to strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations, continuing to provide standardized and non-discriminatory after-sales services to Chinese consumers who have already purchased its appliances.
