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Qualcomm has just announced it is to lay off some of its employees. These cuts are designed to streamline the chip maker’s workforce and are... Qualcomm Layoffs On The Horizon

Qualcomm has just announced it is to lay off some of its employees. These cuts are designed to streamline the chip maker’s workforce and are meant to “trim the fat”, making for a leaner manufacturing process.

CEO Paul Jacobs told Morning Star about the company’s cost cutting measures in a recent interview,  “In fiscal 2014 we are facing some mix and demand factors which we currently expect will moderate our QCT growth. In light of this we are taking near-term actions company-wide to prioritize investments, stay focused on growth but also control expenses in order to deliver operating profit growth in excess of revenue growth.”

Qualcomm

The current downsizing structural program appears to be focused around the middle management area, with several cuts being made at the vice-president level.  Some demotions are also rumoured for managerial appointments.  However the company has signalled more cuts will be coming down the line, in the future, which will affect several different departments.   The reasons behind this move are currently purely speculative; however it could well be that Qualcomm’s overall weak 4th quarter for the 2013 fiscal year may indeed be the cause of this disastrous chain of events.

The company is facing increasing opposition from low-cost chip makers. To add insult to injury, smart-phone and mobile tablet manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are ever more developing the chips in their devices in-house, rather than farming the work off to different manufactures.

Qualcomm is still making a profit, however and the current 31,000 employee company is still a major player in the mobile technology sphere.  Let’s hope it doesn’t head down the Blackberry RIM route, though, shall we?

[Image via thenextweb]

SOURCE: http://www.intomobile.com/2013/11/22/qualcomm-layoffs-coming-chipmaker-facing-competition-lowcost-competitors/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IntoMobile+%28IntoMobile%29