At its US semiconductor division, Samsung fired 3% of its workforce

The US semiconductor subsidiary Device Solutions Americas (DSA) by Samsung is headquartered in San Jose, California. Reportedly, the business unit has a workforce of around 2,000 people. According to a recent report by Business Korea Samsung has laid off almost 3% of its workforce at DSA.

Korean media suggest that such layoffs are the result of the poor and sluggish performance of Samsung in the semiconductor market last year. The company hardly managed to earn profits in the last quarter of the previous year. Samsung had only an operating profit of around $200 million. That’s downcast an astounding 97 percent from a similar period in 2021. However, the performance of the company in the previous quarters of last year was considerably good. Unfortunately, things got worse toward the end of the year.

Even worse, the situation is persistent even in 2023. It is speculated that the South Korean tech firm will lose around $1.5 billion from the semiconductor business within the first quarter of this year. Since 2008 it would be the first quarterly loss. This situation is a result of the global economic conditions and less demand and supply.

Samsung doesn’t plan to cut semiconductor investments

Regardless of the poor business performance, the company has no plans to cut down its investments in the semiconductor business. According to reports, the company has invested more than $30 billion in the semiconductor sector in 2022. In fact, the company wants to sustain a similar investment rate in 2023 as well.

Another report suggests that the company has borrowed $16 billion from the Samsung Display division. The company is aiming at the future with these strategies. It seems like the company intends to be prepared when the market rebounds. However, the situations suggest that it is not going to happen anytime soon.