Reuters: Samsung and Sony are no longer making smartphones in China

Ben Schoon | Oct 2 2019 - 4:35 pm PT

According to a report from Reuters, Samsung and Sony are both ceasing smartphone production in China due to increased competition.

As of today, Samsung’s product of smartphones in China has apparently stopped. The last factory shut down a few months after a factory in Huizhou was cut and another factory was suspended in 2018. Samsung apparently attributes the closure to rising labor costs and an economic slowdown as well.

Samsung’s market share in the region undoubtedly also had something to do with the closures. The company makes up just 1% of the Chinese smartphone market currently after a drop from 15% back in 2013. Much of that market share was taken over by the likes of Huawei and Xiaomi.

Alongside Samsung, Sony is also apparently shutting down smartphone production in China. Reuters says that the company is closing its plant in Beijing and will only make smartphones in Thailand going forward.

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 shutdown of Samsung’s last China phone factory comes after it cut production at the plant in the southern city of Huizhou in June and suspended another factory late last year, underscoring stiff competition in the country.