Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has reportedly laid off more than 900 employees. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Xiaomi has fired nearly 3 per cent of its workforce amid the economic slowdown. Xiaomi, however, is yet to confirm the same.
The company posted a steep drop in second quarter revenue as the world’s biggest smartphone market shrank, hit by strict COVID restrictions. Xiaomi sales fell 20% year-on-year to 70.17 billion yuan ($10.31 billion), missing estimates and marking a steeper decline from the previous quarter when the company posted its first revenue drop since listing. The smartphone maker’s net income fell 67% to 2.08 billion yuan, missing analysts estimates.
“In the Chinese market, there was the resurgence of the pandemic, so as a result, demand was difficult and weak,” said Xiaomi president Wang Xiang on an earnings call. Rising fuel prices, input costs, and inflation affected overseas sales as well, Wang added. Net profit fell as a result of pressure to clear inventory via sales and promotions.
Xiaomi’s smartphone sales contribute more than half of the company’s total revenue. Revenue from smartphone sales fell 29%.
In 2021, Xiaomi saw a sales surge after it grabbed market share from rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, whose ability to procure components was crippled by U.S. sanctions. Yet the bump was short-lived, and the company’s stock price has tumbled nearly 40% since the start of 2022, hit by the slowing Chinese economy and weakening overseas growth.
China’s consumer consumption has struggled to rebound from the impact of lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities in the first half of 2022. Data shows that the world’s second largest economy slowed unexpectedly in July as it struggled to shake off the June quarter’s hit to growth from COVID restrictions, prompting a central bank rate cut.
China’s long-stagnant smartphone sector has been especially hit by the downturn, with unit shipments down 10% year on year in the second quarter, according to research firm Canalys.
In India, Xiaomi’s strongest market outside of China, the company has been subject to government probes for allegedly dodging tax regulators.
Indian tax authorities in April seized $725 million in assets from the company, claiming it illegally transferred funds abroad under the guise of royalty payments. Xiaomi has denied any wrongdoing.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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