HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker with a U.S. headquarters in Bellevue, announced massive job cuts on Thursday as the company plans to trim its headcount by 15 percent and operating expenses by 35 percent.
The Wall Street Journal reports that represents 2,250 people by the end of the year. HTC did not immediately respond to request for comment on how the cuts will affect the Bellevue headquarters.
The news comes after the company that was once flying high with some of the most popular Android phones around, now finds itself struggling in an increasingly crowded market.
In 2009, HTC was the No. 4 smartphone maker in the world with more sales than companies like Samsung, according to Gartner. Today, Samsung is the new No. 1 and HTC doesn’t even make the list.
The company was able to inch out a small profit for a few quarters, but it was back to a loss by the time it announced Q2 results in July.
HTC appointed a new CEO in March, company co-founder Cher Wang. It has also been shifting away from its sole focus on smartphones. HTC now has the Vive virtual reality headset, which will come out later this year, and the HTC Grip fitness tracker.
HTC tried to cast Thursday’s announcement in a positive light, calling the cuts “a program of
business realignment” that will help it better focus on these new areas and become “leaner and more agile.”
“Now, as we diversify beyond smartphones, we need a flexible and dynamic organization to ensure we can take advantage of all of the exciting opportunities in the connected lifestyle space,” Wang said in the release. “This strategic realignment of our business will ensure that each product group has the right focus, the right resources and the right expertise to win new markets.”
UPDATE (08/14) – HTC declined to comment for this story, but a public notice from the Washington state Employment Security Department reported HTC America in Bellevue will lay off 23 workers.
