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More Lenovo staffers to be buried in the redundancy pit

Over 1,000 roles will go as peak smartphone approaches

Lenovo has told around 1,100 staff they are surplus to requirements as it battens down the hatches following continued weakness in smartphone demand.

The Chinese tech giant confirmed the “resource action” will affect “less than two per cent” of the roughly 55,000 people employed worldwide.

“The majority of the positions being eliminated are part of the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business as the the company further aligns its organisation and streamlines its product portfolio to bets compete in the global smartphone market.”

Job cuts are also happening elsewhere across the business “as part of a continued effort to manage costs, drive efficiency and support ongoing improvement in overall financial performance”. It didn’t specify the divisions where the axe was set to swing.

“While these actions are never easy, they are a necessary part of our continued efforts to ensure long-term, profitable growth across all our businesses,” Lenovo added.

In the 2016 financial year - not exactly a vintage one - Lenovo made 3,200 people redundant as it targeted cost savings of $650m, cutting its cloth accordingly to match the sickly PC sales environment.

It wasn't exactly a great start to this FY’17, either, with revenue sliding six per cent to $10.05bn for Q1 ended 30 June, though the planned drop in operating expenses boosted the bottom line.

The smartphone market is edging closer to global saturation, a trend that is hitting every brand from the premium players to the low-end makers. ®

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