Samsung Shuts Down CPU Divisions In US

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is putting up the shutters on the CPU research divisions at its facilities in Austin, Texas, and San Jose, California, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

What Happened 

The division will shut down by Dec. 31, 2019, Renee Martin, HR Director at the Samsung Austin Research Center (SARC), informed regulatory authority Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) in a letter on Oct. 29.

Approximately 300 employees at the Samsung Austin Research Center (SARC) in Texas and Advanced Computing Lab (ACL) in California would be laid off as a result.

“We have treated all employees with respect. They all have been given appropriate packages and advanced notice,” Michele Glaze, a Samsung spokeswoman, told the Austin American-Statesman. 

“These things are very tough. People always wonder, ‘Did they treat them right?’ And we did. It’s unfortunate that they are losing their jobs, but it is based upon the fact that we’re always assessing our business,” she added.

What’s Next

The speculations over Samsung shutting down the custom CPU research divisions were rife for over a month, as the company licensed ‘some intellectual property’ from the UK-based semiconductor maker Arm Holdings, Industry analyst Patrick Moorhead told the Austin American-Statesman. 

Samsung uses the custom CPU chips — branded as Exynos — in its flagship Galaxy mobile phone series. But, according to Reuters, the South Korean behemoth has struggled to find external customers for the semiconductors.

Samsung reported a 56% drop in its third-quarter profits on Oct. 31, with growth stagnating in the semiconductor business. Its stocks traded at 0.76% up on the Korea Exchange late Tuesday.