Samsung halts home appliance sales in China for AI push

Samsung Electronics said on May 6 it will stop selling home appliances in mainland China.

The move comes as local brands gain market share and the company shifts its focus toward semiconductors.

The exit covers products such as TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, vacuum cleaners and air purifiers.

Samsung said after-sales service would continue, and its smartphones would remain on sale in China.

IDC data shows Samsung’s smartphone share in China fell from nearly 20% in the early 2010s to under 1% today.

The company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of 133.9 trillion won (US$91 billion) and operating profit of 57.2 trillion won (US$38.9 billion).

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Samsung had become a small name in China’s home appliance market.
As of April 5, 2026, Samsung’s offline market share in China stood at 3.62% for color TVs, 0.41% for refrigerators, and 0.38% for washing machines. Those figures put it in 5th, 14th, and 15th place 1.
Foreign rivals faced the same pressure. Of the 32.89 million TVs shipped in China in 2025, overseas brands together accounted for fewer than 1 million units 2.
This was not a full exit. Samsung said it will keep its mobile and semiconductor businesses in China. It also plans to keep running its home appliance plant in Suzhou, a major city near Shanghai 3. Samsung will also keep its semiconductor plants in Xi’an, a large inland Chinese city, and Suzhou 3.

The change fits a wider effort to rethink how Samsung makes money around the world.
The company is moving away from a hardware-heavy approach as Chinese manufacturers close the technology gap in premium products 4.
Samsung also broke with custom in its TV unit. It chose former marketing executive Lee Won-jin to lead the visual display business instead of a hardware development veteran 4.
That shift matches a broader platform plan. Samsung wants to connect Galaxy devices, home appliances, advertising tools plus AI assistants in one ecosystem 4.