SummaryIn this paper, the problem of mean square exponential stabilization for sampled‐data Markovin jump systems is studied. A time‐scheduled Lyapunov functional consisting of a exponential‐type looped function is constructed using segmentation technology and linear interpolation. Based on this new Lyapunov functional, a less conservative mean square exponential stability criterion is obtained such that a bigger maximum decay rate can be easily calculated. Meanwhile, the quantitative relationship among some system parameters, maximum sampling period, and decay rate is established. Moreover, a time‐dependent state feedback sample‐data controller is designed. Significant improvements of the proposed exponential‐type time‐scheduled Lyapunov functional method over some existing ones are verified by numerical examples.