SAMSUNG

Company scales down production and workforce at its last smartphone plant in China

South Korea tech giant and global smartphone market leader Samsung has reportedly reduced the production capacity on its only functional plant in China. This is coming six months after the company closed down one of its two manufacturing plants in the country. The reduction in production at the plant located in Huizhou in China's Guangdong province will result in a reduction of the workforce. Although. Samsung has reportedly confirmed plans to scale down output at the plant, there is no official word on the layoffs yet.
The Chinese market was once Samsung's stronghold but that changed with the emergence of local phone manufacturers in the domestic market. Back then, Samsung controlled more than 20% share of the market but Chinese brands continue to surge in growth, the Korean company continued to lose market share. The local OEMs like OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and others were able to gain ground against the global market leader by offering premium models at affordable prices. Samsung's market share in China was below 1% as at the end of 2018.
In recent times, Samsung has made efforts to reclaim its lost glory in the Chinese market and other markets like India where Chinese OEMs have grabbed a chunk of the market share for her hands. The company recently shifted its focus to the midrange segment with the Galaxy A series and other premium but affordable models. It is too early to know how well the company had fared but we doubt if much has changed in terms of sales. This latest development could be an indication that there is no path to resurgence in the world's largest market for the Korean company.
Report also has it that Samsung is giving workers the opportunity to voluntarily resign with compensation plan, with a June 14 deadline for interested employees to apply. This further suggests the company is trying to cut down running at the factory by all means possible and has no hope of a revival in that region. G. C./mundophone