BenQ to close R&D center in Beijing

BenQ Corp (明基) has announced plans to shut its research and design (R&D) center in Beijing, an official said yesterday.

The move follows the closure of a handset plant at home and the sale of BenQ Mobile GmbH in Germany.

"This is the continuation of our restructuring following selling BenQ Mobile in Germany. We think by shutting the Beijing R&D center, we can cut cost and improve efficiency," BenQ spokesman Eric Yu (游克用) said.

Some of the more than 400 staff in the Beijing R&D center can be transferred to the company's R&D center in Suzhou or to other departments, but others will be laid off, Yu said.

With its R&D center in Munich, Germany, closed, BenQ now relies mainly on its R&D center in Taiwan, which has about 600 staff.

Yu said cellphones will remain one of BenQ's core businesses next year, but the company will adjust its strategy.

"We will switch from making low-priced mobile phones to high-end and value-added handsets," he said.

BenQ in May of last year signed a contract to take over Siemens' loss-making handset unit, renaming it BenQ Mobile.

Losses, however, forced BenQ to shut its handset production line in Taiwan during the summer and halt financing to BenQ Mobile in Germany in October, leaving 3,000 staff out of work.

BenQ only has two handset plants left -- one in Shanghai and one in Brazil. But as the firm has not directly invested in the Brazilian plant, it has allowed the Brazilian plant's board to review its financial situation and decide its fate.