Samsung says it is ceasing sales of TVs and appliances in China amid fierce competition from local brands; Samsung's TV and appliance unit lost ~$138M in 2025
The company will continue to sell smartphones and computer chips in China — Samsung Electronics is ceasing sales of televisions …
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung has been reducing its China exposure in lower-margin hardware for years: it ended mobile-phone production there in 2019, and Samsung Display subsequently wound down LCD-panel production in both South Korea and China amid weakening LCD economics.
The latest retreat extends that pattern from manufacturing and panels to consumer-device sales. It comes as Samsung and LG have been described as ceding display ground to Chinese manufacturers, while Samsung retains China-facing businesses in smartphones and chips.
First-order effects
- Samsung’s TV and appliance unit exits a loss-making China sales channel after reporting an approximately $138M loss in 2025.
- Chinese consumers will no longer be served by Samsung’s TV and appliance sales operation, while Samsung continues selling smartphones and chips in the market.
Second-order effects
- Local TV and appliance brands face one less global incumbent in the China market, potentially concentrating competition among domestic suppliers and remaining foreign sellers.
- Samsung can redirect commercial attention and investment toward categories where it still competes in China, rather than subsidizing consumer-electronics sales that have been unprofitable.
Third-order effects
- If other foreign consumer-electronics groups face the same local-brand pressure, China’s mass-market TV and appliance sectors could become still more domestically led, raising the cost of maintaining broad foreign retail operations.
- The move reinforces a wider separation between Samsung’s component and premium-device businesses and commoditized consumer hardware, though its continued smartphone and chip sales show this is a selective retrenchment rather than a full China exit.
The trend: This is part of a broader shift in which global electronics companies narrow their China exposure in commoditized end markets while preserving positions in strategically important devices and components.