Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has ended mobile telephone production in China, it said on Wednesday, hurt by intensifying competition from domestic rivals in the world’s biggest smartphone market.
The South Korean tech giant’s ceased phone production in China follows other manufacturers shifting production from China due to rising labor costs and the economic slowdown.
Samsung’s share of the Chinese market shrank to 1% in the first quarter from around 15% in mid-2013, as it lost out to fast-growing homegrown brands such as Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp, according to market research firm Counterpoint… “Samsung has little hope there to revive its share,” said Park Sung-soon, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities.
MacDailyNews Take: The iPhone copycat market is cutthroat, especially with “IP” in China standing for “Immediately Pilfer.” There’s a certain karmic justice to infamous iPhone knockoff maker Samsung getting knocked off in China by a bunch of iPhone knockoff makers.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “TJ,” and “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]