Samsung reshuffles Chinese unit to tackle declining smartphone sales

In a bit to tackle declining sales in China, Samsung has recently reshuffled its Chinese arm, replacing seven major sales points with 22 smaller stores. The Korea Herald reports that the reshuffle will not include any job cuts, as confirmed by Samsung. The reshuffle is to fight competition from local manufacturers like Oppo, Huawei, and Vivo, who have taken a huge chunk of Samsung’s previously big share of the Chinese market in recent years.

Samsung’s market share fell down to 5 percent last year, and while OEMs like Oppo and Vivo don’t sell their devices at cost like OnePlus or Xiaomi, they have continued to offer notably better specs and features at the same price points. Samsung is no doubt looking to attract consumers with upcoming devices like the Galaxy J7 (2017) and Galaxy C7 (2017) that will sport dual rear cameras, a feature Chinese OEMs have been offering on their devices for some time.

But whether the declining sales will be fixed anytime soon remains to be seen, especially with Apple also gearing up to launch the iPhone 8 later this year. Samsung trails even Apple in market share in China right now, so it looks like the reshuffle has come at just the right time for the Korean giant to get back in the fight.