Qualcomm to cut jobs as competition increases

Smartphone chip vendor Qualcomm has revealed plans to cut its spending by slashing its workforce.

The firm also announced hopes to restructure itself in light of profit warnings, in the face of competition.

Qualcomm revealed plans to reduce its spending by $1.4 billion (£897.3 million) and approximately $300 million (£192.3 million) reduction in annual share-based compensation grants.

According to the BBC, the firm is making the cuts by reducing 15 per cent of its workforce – overall, 4,500 jobs will be axed.

The company also expects to achieve this run-rate by the end of the fiscal year 2016.

Qualcomm has also been under pressure from shareholders to make changes to its business, as more completion rises in Asia.

Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said: “We are making fundamental changes to position Qualcomm for improved execution, financial and operating performance.

“We are right-sizing our cost structure and focusing our investments around the highest return opportunities while reaffirming our intent to return significant capital to stockholders and refreshing our Board of Directors.

“Importantly, our Strategic Realignment Plan is designed to drive meaningful change in the near term – without jeopardising our ability to retain and build upon our technology leadership position and create long-term value for our stockholders.”

The layoffs come as the firm reported that its revenues fell by 14 per cent and that its profit was also down by 47 per cent from a year ago.