Samsung’s last remaining computer manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, will halt production and focus on research and development, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
According to a note sent to employees, about half of the 1,700 contractors at the Suzhou computer factory will be affected, but not those involved in research and development.
Most global companies are rethinking their production and supply chains amid rising labor costs in China, increasing trade tensions, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Samsung’s Suzhou factory was established in 1996 and expanded in 2003 to manufacture notebooks, after China joined the World Trade Organization. In 2012, the plant shipped USD 4.3 billion worth of goods, but by 2018, this number dropped to USD 1 billion.
Samsung ended smartphone production in China last year, shifting it to Vietnam. Its remaining facilities in China include two semiconductor manufacturing sites—a Suzhou plant for LCD screens and a flash memory chip factory in Xi’an.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.