Samsung is pulling TVs and appliances from China after losing $138 million to local competition

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Samsung will no longer sell televisions and home appliances in one of the world's largest consumer markets, China. The reason? Intense competition from local brands and a rapidly evolving business environment.

The South Korean technology giant said it will make every effort to minimize the impact for existing customers, and is reviewing its support infrastructure for business partners. The decision won't affect Samsung's other divisions in the region, meaning they will continue to sell products such as smartphones and tablets as they always have.

The TV industry has been historically tricky to navigate, and Samsung has struggled as of late. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company's TV and home appliance divisions lost roughly $138.4 million last year.

As Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips recently highlighted, most TV makers nowadays actually lose money on hardware at the time of sale. Where they make money is on the software side – specifically, by selling ads through partnerships with streaming services and the like. That's why it is nearly impossible to find a new television without built-in smart platforms – there's no money in it.

The ad platforms give TV manufacturers an incentive to sell more sets, even if they have to do so at a loss. Have you ever noticed that TVs have gotten cheaper over the years despite being bigger and better than ever, while virtually every other electronics category has gone up in price? This is why. The more TVs you have in your home, the more money they stand to make from advertising on these digital billboards.

Samsung didn't command a significant share of the TV and appliance market in China, but the pullout could be a sign of things to come in other regions where the company is struggling with sales.

In related news, Samsung earlier this week appointed a new head for its visual display business. It is unclear if the China announcement is a direct result of the new leadership, but the timing certainly suggests so.

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Samsung is pulling TVs and appliances from China after losing $138 million to local competition

 

[Squid Surprise]

TCL and Hisense (among others) are now selling equal (or better) sets for far cheaper…

 

[TheBigT42]

I NEVER use the smart features of my TVs and I never give them Internet Access

 

[The Talking Tech]

Rule of Thumb, if you have no issues with your home items, DON'T update...updates will eventually slow down or even break your electronics...either intentional corporate greed or accidental buggy software, nobody will be responsible for the damage but yourself.

 

[goldman]

Of course I wouldn't get samsung if I could (in my country is the only one selling good TVs), their OS SUCKS HARD

 

[yRaz]

It's wild that an enemy of the US not only makes cheaper products than us, but they also provide a better user experience. I was actually looking at a hisense 4k120 projector because it had a display port on it. It was perfect aside from the fact that I require an ultra-short throw. I have a feeling my dream projector might not be that far away.....

 

[seeprime]

It's wild that an enemy of the US not only makes cheaper products than us, but they also provide a better user experience. I was actually looking at a hisense 4k120 projector because it had a display port on it. It was perfect aside from the fact that I require an ultra-short throw. I have a feeling my dream projector might not be that far away.....

Currently China is more of a nemesis than an enemy. At worst, we're in a cold war with a lot of chest thumping.

 

[netman]

"Samsung is pulling TVs and appliances from China after losing $138 million to local competition"

Bring your Price down Samsungy...!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"Samsung is pulling TVs and appliances from China after losing $138 million to local competition"

Bring your Price down Samsungy...!

Or just make a better product. Samsung has a horrible reputation for making hardware that destroys itself after about 5-6 years. IF they regularly lasted 15 years without issues with heavy use they'd have no problem selling.

 

[mojoxer]

When did all the hardware vendors move from selling hardware to selling customers? Why did selling hardware just become too hard for companies to do, or was it just seen as easier to sell eyeballs (us, in effect) versus a real product?

 

[Megalomaniac]

I used to think TCL was a joke. TCL is selling better products for less money.

 

[Megalomaniac]

It's wild that an enemy of the US not only makes cheaper products than us, but they also provide a better user experience. I was actually looking at a hisense 4k120 projector because it had a display port on it. It was perfect aside from the fact that I require an ultra-short throw. I have a feeling my dream projector might not be that far away.....

Isn't the goal to make products more affordable?
Isn't that the goal of technology? Make things more affordable and improve everyone's quality of life?
Maybe that's why China has lifted and is lifting its people out of poverty while America seems to be doing everything to keep them in it.

 

[DukeJukem]

It's wild that an enemy of the US not only makes cheaper products than us, but they also provide a better user experience.

you realize samsung isn't a US company right? samsung is south korean so it's south korea vs china. nothing to do with the united states whatsoever. samsung is just one of the companies allowed to filter their garbage into this terrible business...I mean country.

 

[daffy duck]

It's wild that an enemy of the US not only makes cheaper products than us, but they also provide a better user experience. I was actually looking at a hisense 4k120 projector because it had a display port on it. It was perfect aside from the fact that I require an ultra-short throw. I have a feeling my dream projector might not be that far away.....

The main enema of the USA is your own Whitehouse

 

[Squid Surprise]

you realize samsung isn't a US company right? samsung is south korean so it's south korea vs china. nothing to do with the united states whatsoever. samsung is just one of the companies allowed to filter their garbage into this terrible business...I mean country.

Look up the Korean War and realize that South Korea exists because of the US and tends to follow US policies…

As has happened for centuries (if not millennia), superpowers tend to use small allied nations to fight their wars for them.

Isn't the goal to make products more affordable?
Isn't that the goal of technology? Make things more affordable and improve everyone's quality of life?
Maybe that's why China has lifted and is lifting its people out of poverty while America seems to be doing everything to keep them in it.

Maybe do a little research on China’s economy and population’s standard of living… US’ is higher…

 

[psycros]

Gee, maybe outsourcing one of your main industries to China wasn't so smart after all..since they don't honor ANY foreign patents (look it up).

I remember in the 90's Samsung was THE brand for quality. My Samsung microwave gave me 37 good years and I still miss it.

 

[NumberNine]

I used to think TCL was a joke. TCL is selling better products for less money.

TCL is KILLING IT right now.

 

[Eldrach]

Samsung has a killer picture - I've used Samsung Tv's for the last 10 years. I update them, then disconnect them from my wifi and use Apple TV.
Purely use it for the image quality, not the built in OS

 

[yRaz]

you realize samsung isn't a US company right? samsung is south korean so it's south korea vs china. nothing to do with the united states whatsoever. samsung is just one of the companies allowed to filter their garbage into this terrible business...I mean country.

Where did I say that Samsung was a us company?

 

[Axeia]

When did all the hardware vendors move from selling hardware to selling customers? Why did selling hardware just become too hard for companies to do, or was it just seen as easier to sell eyeballs (us, in effect) versus a real product?

It's the same everywhere. Companies want a predictable steady flow of increasing income.
Either by force feeding you an ever increasing amount of ads, or by subscription services where the price keeps going up and up... or inevitably both (ad-supported 'economy' tier).

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"
>>>
"Get a customer to purchase once and you profit once. Get a customer to watch ads and/or fork over money on a monthly basis and green line keeps going up"

 

[Megalomaniac]

Look up the Korean War and realize that South Korea exists because of the US and tends to follow US policies…

As has happened for centuries (if not millennia), superpowers tend to use small allied nations to fight their wars for them.

Maybe do a little research on China’s economy and population’s standard of living… US’ is higher…

I've lived in China. No - it isn't.

In America you can't even be certain what form of violence you're facing on a daily basis. Ask China about their gun crimes, illegal drug overdose deaths or the violence in their metro systems.

Then get back to me.

 

[Squid Surprise]

I've lived in China. No - it isn't.

Irrelevant - but thanks for sharing.

In America you can't even be certain what form of violence you're facing on a daily basis. Ask China about their gun crimes, illegal drug overdose deaths or the violence in their metro systems.

Ask USA about living in a dictatorship, not being able to speak freely, getting FAR lower salaries, as well as lower purchasing power for "luxury" items.

Then get back to me.

Yeah... consider you "gotten back at"... oh... and needless to say, this kind of debate would be illegal in China and would probably land me in jail... no thanks

Oh... and I live in Canada...

 

[rmcrys]

Isn't the goal to make products more affordable?
Isn't that the goal of technology? Make things more affordable and improve everyone's quality of life?
Maybe that's why China has lifted and is lifting its people out of poverty while America seems to be doing everything to keep them in it.

The thing is, the US and Europe's trend in the last decade is to lift prices massively for worse products:
- companies earn more per unit
- stuff lasts less (barely as long as the warranty)
- the US government and important people invested heavily on the AI / AI hardware, so they REALLY NEED that many jobs are shifted to a paid AI and power plants / water pumps are built quickly to maintain that hardware working. That is nothing but horrible for the environment and humans.

Instagram for example is disabling encryption, so that their AI can read your messages. I hope the EU at least doesn't allow this... I barely use Instagram anyway, but it's important to be safe.