Samsung Electronics has announced it will shut down one of its Chinese smartphone manufacturing facilities as the Korean firm continues to lose market share to domestic rivals, Reuters reports.
Samsung’s market share in China’s smartphone market fell to just 1% in the first quarter of this year, with Chinese brands like Huawei offering high-spec alternatives at a lower cost.
The factory to close is located in the northern city of Tianjin and currently employs 2,600 people. It will be shuttered before the end of the year. Samsung’s other major Chinese facility, in Huizhou, Guangdong province, will remain open for now.
Samsung has been shifting an increasing share of production to lower-cost markets like Vietnam and India recently, and will likely focus on these markets more following the closure of the Tianjin plant.