According to a Korean newspaper Samsung is gearing up to reduce the workforce at its headquarters by 10 percent as it feels the pinch from Apple in the high-end market segment and from Chinese vendors in the mid-range and low-end segment. The report claims that Samsung will be targeting the layoffs in human resources, finance and public relations departments, the company is also reportedly going to cut additional expenses in the coming year. As of June 30th the company had some 98,999 employees at its headquarters so a 10% reduction would leave quite a few people out of a job.
Samsung is likely making these cost cutting moves following the rapid decline in its market value, it has lost some $40 billion in market value since April this year, given that the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge didn't exactly do much to turn the company's fortunes around. Samsung's share of global smartphone shipments is also down by 3 percentage points in the second quarter and it has been dethroned as the top vendor in China, which happens to be the biggest mobile-phone market in the world. It's certainly a challenging time for the Korean company.
