{"slug": "new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits", "title": "New Samsung Layoffs in the U.S. Show Smartphone Arm’s Struggles, Even as It Profits Massively From AI", "summary": "Samsung Electronics America is laying off about 839 employees in the U.S., with 739 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and roughly 100 in Plano, Texas, according to a Reuters report. The cuts target sales and marketing roles in Samsung's display, phone, and consumer electronics operations, even as the company's chip and memory business posts a 19-fold quarterly profit jump driven by AI demand. The layoffs highlight a stark contrast between Samsung's struggling consumer tech arm and its booming semiconductor division, which recently agreed to bonuses of up to $400,000 for South Korean workers to avert a strike.", "body_md": "A round of layoffs just hit Samsung’s operation in the U.S. In addition to the obvious human dimension as people lose their livelihoods, it’s spotlights a tough reality for Samsung: its consumer tech arm is struggling even as its chip and memory business goes stratospheric.\n\nA [report from Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/samsung-electronics-america-reduce-workforce-by-739-new-jersey-us-warn-notice-2026-07-18/) places the number of layoffs at about 839. Samsung confirmed to Reuters that 739 people were being fired in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and about 100 others were let go in Plano, Texas according to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters. Apparently Samsung clarified to Reuters that the majority of those losing their jobs had been given “relocation offers.”\n\nThese are jobs at Samsung’s “display, phone and other consumer electronics operations,” according to Reuters. Roles mentioned on the Reuters article are sales and marketing—not the sort of blue collar jobs that typically unionize in the U.S. A [2019 report from Hankyoreh](https://web.archive.org/web/20190627140032/http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/899427.html) found a great deal of intense anti-union activity from Samsung executives around the world, seemingly as a matter of global corporate policy. “Even the smallest examples of collective action were met with reprisals,” the report said.\n\nEarlier this month, Samsung reported a [19-fold quarterly jump in profits](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samsung-estimates-19-fold-rise-q2-operating-profit-beating-expectations-2026-07-06/) as demand for memory and chips for the data center build out has flooded Samsung with revenue.\n\nIt’s a very different picture in South Korea, where the chip and memory business is centered, and where workers seem to have leverage lately. Organized Samsung workers authorized a strike, and in May, under maximum pressure to keep its memory business operating smoothly, Samsung agreed to massive deals for workers, including [bonuses to the tune of $400,000](https://gizmodo.com/samsung-chip-workers-approve-amazing-deal-to-avert-strike-2000763762).\n\nThe AI boom, and accompanying spike in the cost of components, has been a mixed blessing for Samsung on the whole. This spring, reports indicated that [executives were sweating profit projections](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/samsung-may-be-bracing-for-first-ever-annual-loss-in-smartphone-business/) showing the company’s first failure to turn a profit on smartphones ever.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits", "canonical_source": "https://gizmodo.com/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits-massively-from-ai-2000787512", "published_at": "2026-07-19 20:11:05+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-20 13:29:14.714535+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Samsung", "Reuters", "Englewood Cliffs", "Plano", "South Korea", "Hankyoreh"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/new-samsung-layoffs-in-the-u-s-show-smartphone-arms-struggles-even-as-it-profits.jsonld"}}