The next shock for China: Samsung has officially stopped manufacturing computers here!

According to information from SCMP, Samsung’s last overseas computer factory in Suzhou, China, will stop production entirely to focus on research and development.

Specifically, yesterday, the Korean technology giant decided that the factory in Suzhou would not be completely assembled and manufactured anymore “due to the fierce competition in the market”.

“Except for those who work in research and development, everyone else will be affected,” the statement said.

At its peak in 2012, the factory had 6,500 employees. However, the latest changes only affect about 1,700 employees who have contracts until the end of 2019.

Officially confirming that the plant will cease production and instead focus on research and development, in part because of “continued efforts to increase efficiency across manufacturing facilities around the globe.” . The company also confirmed that it will create an opportunity for affected employees to move to other Samsung factories.

An industrial spokesman said the local labor office would help affected employees find new jobs while claiming they understood and supported Samsung’s decision.

This factory was established by Samsung in Suzhou in 2000, the year China joined the WTO with the total value of products exported abroad in 2012 totaling 4.3 billion USD.

However, when it was no longer in the top 20 of China’s top exporters in 2012, the factory continued to reduce production and they ranked 155th when the list was published last year with the value of exported products. in 2018, it dropped to 1 billion USD.

Samsung closed its last smartphone factory in China last year and moved to Vietnam – a step that has severely affected the local economy.

Despite this, the Korean conglomerate still has other factories in place, including an LCD panel factory in Suzhou, and recently opened a memory chip factory.

It is worth mentioning that Samsung’s business restructuring provides more evidence that China is losing a quick advantage in assembly and manufacturing operations as labor costs rise and supply chains increase. The global crisis is crumbling due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Moreover, the economic conflict between China and the US has led to a sharp decline in China’s key export market.

“Samsung is not the last foreign enterprise to pack and leave as long as China is still the production base and the main market is the US and Europe, if those markets are closed with Chinese goods. , there will certainly be many more companies leaving, “a WeChat commentator.

Another comment on WeChat attracted attention saying, “Can China live without the rest of the world or can the rest of the world live without China?”