HTC Cuts 15% Of Its Workforce As It Bids To Return To Profitability

HTC said last week that it would be cutting costs “significantly,” and today the struggling Android phone maker revealed that will make 15 percent of its staff redundant as part of that strategy. That’ll mean around 2,250 employees lose their jobs.

The company, which has seen its stock price sink to the point that it is virtually worthless, is in poor shape after recording a $252 million operating loss for Q2 2015.

Another element of HTC’s cost-cutting, which the company estimates will reduce operating expenses by around one-third, is the creation of new business units to “create greater focus and profitable growth in our key areas” — that’s smartphones, virtual reality, and wearables. The first fruits of this new focus are due soon, with a “trendy” new smartphone that the company teased last week set to emerge before the end of this year. HTC candidly admitted on an investor relations call last week that consumers aren’t all that interested in its current crop of gizmos.

Today’s news from Taiwan comes just hours after Lenovo, the world’s fifth biggest smartphone company and biggest PC firm, revealed that it too will lay off 3,200 staff — five percent of its global headcount — following a poor quarter of business. It’s not a good time to be an Android smartphone maker right now, unless you’re Xiaomi or Huawei.