US chipmaker Marvell cutting some R&D roles in China: statement
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SANTA Clara, California-based chip designer Marvell Technology Group is eliminating some roles in China as part of a realignment of its global research and development (R&D) investments, the company said on Thursday (Oct 27).
“In China, we will focus our R&D investments on local customers and the China market,” Stacey Keegan, vice-president of Corporate Marketing at Marvell said in a written response to questions sent from Reuters.
“As a part of this realignment, several of our business units and functions are announcing changes to their global location strategy that will result in the elimination of roles in China.”
Marvell did not specify how many staffers would be affected by the cuts.
Domestic China media outlet iJiwei reported late on Wednesday, citing unnamed industry sources, that Marvell planned to lay off a large proportion of its research and development team in China.
Marvell at one point had 1,000 people working in China, about 800 of which were located at its research and development centre in Shanghai, according to iJiwei, an online news site tracking the semiconductor sector.
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Marvell specializes in chips for switches used inside data centres owned by cloud computing providers.
The company’s move comes as chipmakers brace for slowing demand following a boom at the peak of a global chip shortage.
Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported a 31 per cent drop in profit due to weak demand, and forecast it would stay low until early 2023.
Chip stocks broadly took a hit earlier this month when Samsung and Advanced Micro Devices announced dour forecasts for the quarter.
Marvell’s move also comes after Washington enacted tough sanctions on the Chinese chip sector, which effectively bar US-based equipment makers from servicing Chinese manufacturers of advanced chips.
Amid the geopolitical tensions, a number of US-based companies have scaled back ther R&D operations in China.
In January, fellow US-based chipmaker Micron Technology shut down its its DRAM R&D centre in Shanghai citing shifting investment priorities. REUTERS
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