Samsung to Shut Down its Sole TV Factory in China
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. will close its TV manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.
The South Korean tech giant plans to cease operations at its sole TV plant in China by the end of November. The decision is part of its efforts to “improve efficiency at its production bases worldwide amid fierce competition in the industry,” the South Korean state-run news agency said.
“Samsung is continuing its plan to withdraw production from mainland China,” said Jia Mo, an analyst at Canalys, a global technology market analyst firm. “As countries in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam’s cost advantages become more apparent, this also helps Samsung with controlling TV prices in the future, making Samsung’s long-term development more stable.”
Established in 1993, the factory has about 300 workers, Yonhap reported. It is responsible for three TV assembly lines and is the only TV production base of Samsung Electronics in China. Various data indicates that Samsung’s closure of this factory may be related to the decline in the market share of its TV products in China.
According to statistics from China Market Co., Ltd., the cumulative sales of Samsung TV in the Chinese market in the first half of this year were 410,000 units, a decrease of 8.33% over the same period last year.
Other public data shows that in 2019, Samsung TV’s market sales in China were a little more than 1 million units, accounting for about 2% of market share, and the top five were all domestic TV brands.
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Samsung said some of the workers and equipment are expected to be retained, according to Reuters.
Samsung has been closing its manufacturing facilities in China in recent years.
In 2018, the company shuttered its smartphone factory in Tianjin and last year, it shut down its last smartphone factory in Huizhou in southern Guangdong Province.
In July, Samsung said its PC plant in Suzhou will halt production.
Samsung’s Chinese manufacturing facilities currently in operation include a home appliance plant in Suzhou and a chip factory in Xi’an.
