TAIPEI: Smartphone maker HTC Corp is to cut 400 jobs at its Taoyuan factory by the end of next month as part of its efforts to reduce costs, the Taoyuan City Government confirmed here the other day.
The layoff plan, which was sent to the local government on Friday last week, is to affect about 5 percent of the nearly 9,000 employees at the factory, according to local media reports.
HTC declined to comment and reiterated its earlier announcement that the company plans to cut 15 percent of its global workforce as part of a business realignment plan.
The program includes the establishment of new business units to create profitable growth in the company’s key areas of premium smartphones, virtual reality and connected lifestyle products, HTC said.
SIM-FREE’ EXPANSION
Separately, HTC said it is ready to take advantage of Japan’s unlocked mobile phone market, since wireless carriers there recently lifted network restrictions for their subscribers.
Since the restrictions were removed in May, smartphones and tablets are being sold in Japan with unlocked SIM cards at the customer’s request and at no extra cost. This allows subscribers to the usual two-year contracts to sign up for alternative plans if they want to.
The move is expected to spur more competitive pricing among Japan’s three biggest mobile carriers, and HTC North Asia president Jack Tong has forecast significant growth in the unlocked cellphone market.
The overall unlocked cellphone market in Japan, also known as the “SIM-free” market, is estimated to grow from the current 1 million units to 10 million units in the next five to 10 years, changing the face of Japan’s smartphone market, which has been heavily subsidized by wireless network providers, Tong said.
