\tSamsung revealed plans to shut one of its mobile manufacturing facilities in China at the end of this year as domestic rivals eat into its market share, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
The smartphone vendor told the news outlet it made the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to close its Tianjin plant as part of \u201congoing efforts to enhance efficiency in our production facilities\u201d.<\/p>\n
Around 2,600 people are currently employed at the Tianjin factory. A separate mobile manufacturing plant in the Chinese city of Huizhou will remain in operation, Reuters said.<\/p>\n
The news follows reports in August [1] which suggested Samsung might make such a move in the face of falling earnings [2] from its mobile division as it faced stiff competition from rivals and weaker-than-expected sales of its Galaxy flagship line.<\/p>\n
The Electronic Times noted the Tianjin facility produces 36 million mobile phones per year, half the output of the Huizhou plant. Two other Samsung facilities in Vietnam are responsible for a combined 240 million devices each year.<\/p>\n
Research company Canalys reported Samsung was the only smartphone vendor to record a fall in global shipments [3] during Q3, with a 14 per cent drop. The vendor’s market share also declined from 22 per cent in Q3 2017 to 20.4 per cent in the recent period.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Chinese rivals Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo all gained ground, with the latter two holding their highest-ever share of global smartphone shipments.<\/p>\n
The move also comes as rising labour and component costs in China, and global political tensions put even greater pressure on vendors operating in the country.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/devices\/news-devices\/samsung-mulls-china-device-site-shutdown\/
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/samsung-plans-5g-assault-mobile-earnings-fall\/
\n[3] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/devices\/news-devices\/smartphone-shipments-decline-as-china-suffers\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Samsung revealed plans to shut one of its mobile manufacturing facilities in China at the …<\/p>\n
The post Samsung closes mobile device factory in China<\/a> appeared first on Mobile World Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n