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ZTE laying off 3,000

And the US trade ban hasn't even started yet

ZTE is greeting the new year with job cuts, following disappointing smartphone sales and uncertainty about its future in the USA.

Last year at Mobile World Congress, the company predicted it would ship more than 60 million smartphones; instead, IDC reckoned its shipments slipped by more than 36 per cent compared to 2015.

Reuters reports that 5 per cent of its 60,000 global workforce is to be cut, and of the 3,000, 600 will be in its smartphone business.

Reuters also attributes the job losses to uncertainty about its future in the USA, with the latest stay on an American trade ban due to expire in February.

The ban was first announced in March 2016 after the US found ZTE was using front companies to get around sanctions on Iran.

After the ban, ZTE overhauled its executive. It's negotiated several delays to the ban coming into effect since then.

Ever since April 2016, it's been keen to attribute poor performance to the sanctions. ®

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