Samsung India Responds to Job Cut Reports, Says Will Hire More Talent Across Verticals

Samsung India on Tuesday said that after generating 2,000 new jobs in the past one year, the south Korean giant would hire more talent across verticals throughout the year as it "continuously realigns resources" as per business priorities.

Reacting to a media report that said Samsung is slashing 1,000 jobs in India in the face of stiff competition from Chinese companies, the South Korean tech giant said the report is "misleading".

"As we contribute to job creation, we continuously realign resources as per business priorities to make our business more robust and efficient for long-term success," a Samsung spokesperson told IANS.

Samsung's profit growth has remained under strain since 2017-19 with Chinese companies such as Xiaomi and OnePlus eating into its share in the India smartphone business.

The company's net profit in the 2018 financial year fell 10.7 per cent to Rs. 3,712 crore while total income grew at a similar pace to Rs. 61,065 crore, said the report in a leading business daily that cited disclosures with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

In the TV market too in which Samsung continues to to be the largest player, Chinese companies have started making inroads.

Samsung, however, stressed that its business in India continues to grow and expand.

"We have demonstrated our commitment by building the world's largest mobile factory in Noida, investing in local R&D and we are exploring new businesses such as 5G Network, among others," said the spokesperson.

"In the past one year, we have generated 2,000 new jobs at Samsung. Samsung India's business continues to grow and expand, hence we will hire more talent across businesses through the year," the spokesperson added.

The company said on Monday that the Indian market is expected to give the company a big opportunity to improve its 5G presence and it would launch 5G in India once telecom operators are ready to work with it.

In the Indian smartphone market, Samsung has launched two successful series - 'M' and 'A' -- this year. It sold a record five million units of Galaxy "A series" phones in just 70 days, starting March 1, achieving $1 billion revenue.

The company has so far launched six models in the Galaxy A series - Galaxy A50, A30, A20, A10, A70, and A2 Core - and aims to make Galaxy A series a $4-billion brand in India this year.

In the premium segment, Samsung India saw a massive jump in the first quarter of 2019, clocking 68.9 percent market share (by volume) and 65.9 percent (by value), riding on the success of Galaxy S10 series.