Samsung India has started cutting jobs in batches across its television and home-appliance businesses, with around 80–100 executives asked to leave, according to multiple industry executives cited by The Economic Times.
The move comes as higher memory-chip prices, a weaker rupee, rising raw-material costs and softer consumer demand put pressure on sales and margins.
The smartphone business has so far been kept out of the current cuts.
Samsung Restructures Consumer Electronics
The reported job cuts cover director-level officials, team leads, branch managers and area managers across Samsung’s television and home-appliance operations.
An industry executive told ET that up to 25% of the electronics sales and marketing workforce could eventually be affected, including off-roll employees hired through manpower agencies. Samsung’s domestic electronics sales team has around 550–600 executives, excluding its larger smartphone sales organisation.
Samsung is also consolidating parts of its branch network. Offices including Ranchi and Patna, Delhi and Gurgaon, and Punjab and Chandigarh are reportedly being combined, resulting in some positions becoming redundant. A proposed merger of the television and home-appliance sales teams has also been deferred to the December quarter.
Memory Prices Raise Pressure
The cost pressure is closely linked to memory components used in smartphones and other electronics. ET reported that memory-chip prices have more than doubled, while Counterpoint Research said smartphone memory prices had increased nearly four times since September 2025.
Counterpoint also reported that memory’s share of the bill of materials for mass-market smartphones below ₹15,000 had risen from below 20% to more than 45%, following sharp increases in DRAM and NAND prices.
The pressure is showing up in retail pricing. Samsung has raised prices on some smartphone models by 5-10%, according to ET.
Smartphone Market Loses Momentum
India’s smartphone shipments fell 10% year-on-year in Q2 2026, covering April to June, according to Counterpoint Research. It was the biggest decline for a June quarter in six years.
Counterpoint said Samsung remained in second place during the quarter, with shipments growing 2% year-on-year. Vivo led the market with an 18% share, while Oppo was third with 14%.
Counterpoint expects India’s smartphone market to decline 13% year-on-year in 2026, as elevated memory and component costs keep device prices high. It said smartphone prices have already risen across multiple brands this year.
Diwali Key For Samsung
Samsung’s smartphone workforce has not been included in the current layoffs, with the company expecting stronger sales during the Diwali period. An industry executive cited by ET said another round of manpower rationalisation could take place after Diwali, particularly in the television and home-appliance businesses.
Samsung’s India business remains substantial. Its FY25 revenue stood at around ₹1.1 lakh crore, up 12% from the previous year, while net profit rose 38% to ₹11,287 crore. Home appliances accounted for around 11% of sales, making it the company’s second-largest category after smartphones.
For now, the reported restructuring is concentrated outside smartphones. How Samsung’s India workforce evolves after the festive season will depend in part on how sales perform and whether the current pressure on component costs eases.
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