More bad news for BenQ staff

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer BenQ is planning to cut between 300 and 400 jobs, or half the workforce of its Shanghai mobile phone plant, according to Chinese press reports.

The Shanghai factory is another asset the company acquired when it bought Siemens’ mobile handset unit last year. The latest round of job cuts are understood to be a result of BenQ’s decision to cease funding the Taiwanese-German joint venture, BenQ Mobile.

BenQ decided in late September to bail out of the German mobile phone subsidiary, as it was unable to stem unsustainable losses at the unit. The move has already caused job losses at the company approaching the 3,000 mark.

BenQ acquired the beleaguered handset unit from Siemens in June 2005. The unit was in dire shape and the German manufacturer effectively paid BenQ Eur50m to take the ailing division off its hands.

But the dual brand BenQ Siemens devices have not sold as well as expected and the struggling mobile phone maker has already announced the closure of production plants in Mexico and Taiwan. Other subsidiaries in Brazil and other locations are reviewing their financial position, the company said in a statement.