BlackBerry Ltd is preparing to make deep cut to its workforce by the end of the year that could lead to the company slashing its headcount by up to 40 percent, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The layoffs will be across the board and likely occur in waves, the newspaper reported.
BlackBerry, which once dominated the corporate smartphone arena, last month said it was considering an outright sale of the company as it reviews its options.
It has struggled in recent years to stanch rapid market share losses to rivals such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
BlackBerry, which has already laid off hundreds of employees this year and previously warned that further job cuts were in the offing, declined to comment on the report or the magnitude of the reported layoffs. The company employed 12,700 people as of March.
“We will not comment on rumors and speculation,” BlackBerry spokesman Adam Emery said. “We are in the second phase of our transformation plan. Organizational moves will continue to occur to ensure we have the right people in the right roles to drive new opportunities.”
The report comes the same day the Canadian company introduced the Z30, a top-of-the-line smartphone intended to help the former industry pioneer wrestle its way back into the intensely competitive smartphone market, but investors have grown increasingly nervous about Blackberry’s future as its market position crumbles.
The company has seen lackluster sales of devices that run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
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SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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