Samsung Electronics has initiated layoffs in India amid weaker consumer demand and reduced margins in its core smartphone business. According to The Economic Times, the layoffs are being carried out in batches, and so far, 80-100 executives in the television sets and home appliance businesses have been let go.
Those asked to leave include director-level officials and team leads at the headquarters, along with branch and area managers at operating branches, the report, which cited multiple industry executives, added.
25% of sales and marketing team could be affected
One of the affected employees told ET that has been issuing termination letters daily over the past few days. Those laid off have been asked to leave without serving their notice periods, and the company is offering three months’ salary and an additional month’s pay for every year of service as .
An executive told the outlet that out of the 550-600 executives in the sales and marketing workforce in the electronics business, up to 25%, including off-roll employees hired through manpower agencies, could be let go as part of the layoff.
“There’s manpower rationalisation in the home appliance and television businesses. The second round can happen after Diwali,” another executive added.
‘Smartphone division safe for now’
While the television and home appliance division has been affected, executives said Samsung India’s most prominent section, smartphones, will be unaffected by layoffs, at least for now.
“There will be no immediate job cuts in the mobile phone business as this is its bread and butter and the company expects a rebound in sales during Diwali. However, it might get evaluated later,” the executive added.
According to the latest data by IDC and Counterpoint Research, Samsung holds the second-highest smartphone market share in India in 2026, with around 16.4% and 17.6% of the market in Q2 2026.
Samsung layoff in US
The South Korean tech giant, which in January this year had pledged to invest $648 billion inin its home country over the next decade, has also been restructuring its businesses elsewhere.
In July, it was reported that Samsung announced job cuts in the consumer electronics business in the US, after experiencing surging profit to its chip division. According to Reuters, Samsung made over 700 cuts at its US display, phone and other consumer electronics operations, mostly affecting workers in New Jersey and Texas.
Documents seen by Reuters confirm that the unit notified some employees at the end of June of an “enterprise-wide reduction-in-force”, adding that there were a “significant number of impacts”.
The shift, Samsung explained in a statement, was to optimise certain functions to ensure “our roles align to key business priorities”.