Samsung’s India R&D leads global product engineering, says Southwest Asia CEO J.B. Park

According to Jong Bum Park, president and chief executive of Samsung Southwest Asia, Samsung’s India engineering operations account for the core development process of its second-largest revenue generator—smartphones. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), Samsung generated $219 billion in revenue globally—of which 38% came from smartphones.

The company’s semiconductor division, largely based out of the US and Korea, is its highest revenue generator.

“The entire camera unit and its software for our flagship smartphones were developed and engineered entirely in India,” said Park in an interview. “All of our Galaxy A series smartphones were also developed by our Bengaluru R&D hub. As we delve deeper into AI, a lot of our engineering for our three global AI platforms is being done in India, including our work on developing on-device AI features.”

The India team now wants to delve deeper by manufacturing components for its products in India, starting with displays. Currently, the components are imported from places like Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia, even though some small components are sourced from within India. Notably, the company is marking 30 years of its presence in the country this month.

Samsung India earned ₹1.14 trillion ($12.7 billion) from its India operations in FY25, data from market intelligence firm Tofler showed. The company’s India business accounted for 6% of its global revenue that year, nearly double that of what the India teams of most tech firms contribute to global revenue. The company follows a January-December financial cycle.

To be sure, the Korean giant is not the only one to scale up R&D in India, with other prominent names being Samsung’s top competitors, including Apple and Google. Over the past decade, these companies have set up engineering teams here, driven by New Delhi’s policy push to localize both manufacturing and software operations.

At the same time, the company is investing in higher-value electronics components manufacturing as well, Park said.

“We have our own manufacturing facilities in Noida and Chennai, and we also work with contract manufacturers for key industries where these partners already have expertise and are competitive,” Park said. “But today, the two biggest value additions in our products are the chip and the display. Now, we have begun localizing the manufacturing process for our displays, which will feature in our refrigerators and then on to other devices as well.”

This, Park added, is a policy decision, as well as engineering. “We have some of the brightest minds in India. But our increasing localization efforts come as part of aligning with the government’s intent to create a higher value India ecosystem. Even core components of home appliances, such as the compressor that goes into our air conditioners, are being made in our factories in India,” he said.

Park, on this note, admitted that the question of market share does concern him, for which the company is looking to double-down on its push to create a complete ecosystem of devices and rope more users into their ecosystem.

“The thing with competing brands is that many of them have come and gone as part of our 30-year journey in India so far,” Park said. “But competition is tough, and losing ground from being the absolute number one means that if we don’t focus on retaining the top spot, we may soon end up sliding down to number five or six, or worse.”

Market tracker International Data Corp (IDC) ranked Samsung at third behind China’s Vivo and Oppo as of September this year, with 12.6% share of the smartphone market. In televisions, Samsung retained the top spot as of December last year, with 16% of the market.

To fortify its market share in India, Park said that starting next year, “100% home appliances will be wi-fi-connected”.

Industry analysts said Samsung’s India operations continue to remain resilient, despite having lost its absolute market leadership in smartphones over the best part of the past 10 years.

“Samsung India’s sustained success stems from its enduring brand salience and the widest horizontal portfolio across mobiles, TVs, and appliances,” said Prabhu Ram, vice-president of industry intelligence at CyberMedia Research.

“In a value-conscious market like India, the consumer–brand relationship often begins post-sale. Samsung performs strongly here, backed by the broadest retail and service network among peers. This is further reinforced by India-specific R&D and large-scale local manufacturing, enabling the company to respond to evolving consumer aspirations with speed,” he added.

However, Ram pointed out that the company’s iterative product development process could be a long-term concern. “Samsung’s relative weakness lies in its conservative innovation posture. The company has tended to prioritize incremental improvements—particularly in foldables and adjacent categories—over bolder, category-defining innovation,” he said.