HTC, Lenovo announce job cuts as losses mount in smartphone market battle

Neither HTC nor Lenovo are among the five largest smartphone vendors, according to TrendForce

Asian tech heavyweights HTC and Lenovo have revealed plans to slash their respective workforces and restructure their mobile phone units, moves designed to stem financial losses as the companies struggle to compete in the global mobile marketplace.

HTC will trim 15 percent of its workforce — Â though it didn't say from where — while Lenovo will chop 3,200 non-manufacturing roles. Both companies cited streamlining of operations and cost savings as factors driving the decisions.

"Now, as we diversify beyond smartphones, we need a flexible and dynamic organization to ensure we can take advantage of all of the exciting opportunities in the connected lifestyle space," HTC CEO Chair Wang said in a release. "This strategic realignment of our business will ensure that each product group has the right focus, the right resources and the right expertise to win new markets."

HTC has fallen hard in the last few years as Apple and Samsung have essentially taken over the mobile phone market. The company is currently trading below the value of its cash on hand, meaning that investors believe it has no intrinsic value.

Lenovo likewise didn't specify from which unit it would cull jobs, but its mobile business group — Â which now includes Motorola — Â will undergo restructuring after posting a pre-tax loss of $292 million in Lenovo's first fiscal quarter of 2015. The company is currently sitting on unsold smartphone inventory worth $300 million, which it will write off.