Samsung India Said To Face Exodus Of Public Policy Execs

Three public policy executives from Samsung Electronics’ India team have resigned, as the country’s largest smartphone player faces several regulatory challenges, per a Reuters report.

What Happened? According to Reuters sources, the executives who have left the company are Binu George, who handled corporate affairs and strategy; Surabhi Pant, who worked on policy and public affairs, and Nikhil Kaura from the same team. They all quit last week.

The report notes that public policy teams play increasingly critical roles in companies’ efforts to balance regulatory issues as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has boosted domestic electronics manufacturing while backing tougher regulations on tech firms.

Two sources told Reuters that they were part of a seven-member team headed by Rajiv Aggarwal, a former bureaucrat who led public policy at Meta and Uber in India before joining Samsung in December.

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The reasons for their departures were not immediately clear. However, they come at a time of challenges for Samsung in a key growth market, where it recently outpaced its rival Xiaomi to become the biggest smartphone player.

Samsung’s sales in India in fiscal 2021-22 amounted to $10.3 billion (₹84,575.42 crore), with smartphones accounting for $6.7 billion (₹55,015.7 crore). Its market share of 20% for the last quarter of 2022 made it the largest player, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

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