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Qualcomm is dumping 15% of its staff as profits slump

Qualcomm has just released its earnings report for the last quarter, and it came with some pretty bad news.

We’re talking about the chip manufacturing company’s newly announced plans to lay off 15 per cent of its entire workforce.

Qualcomm is also revealed it would be “eliminating” around $1.4 billion in spending, to be completed by the end of fiscal 2016.

That’s probably a wise move, however – Qualcomm reported a $5.8 billion quarterly revenue, which is down 14 per cent year-on-year.

Its net profit also dropped an incredible 35 per cent to $1.6 billion.

We are making fundamental changes to position Qualcomm for improved execution, financial and operating performance,” explains Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm’s CEO.

Mollenkopf continues: “Importantly, our Strategic Realignment Plan is designed to drive meaningful change in the near term – without jeopardising our ability to retain and build upon our technology leadership position and create long-term value for our stockholders.”

Related: Best Android Smartphones 2015

It’s been a tough year for Qualcomm, with a series of setbacks harming the company’s bottom line.

Firstly, the company has been plagued by accusations that its flagship Snapdragon 810 mobile chip suffers overheating issues.

Secondly, it lost a huge client in the form of Samsung, which opted to use custom-built Exynos chips in this year’s Galaxy smartphone range – that’s the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

And more recently, Qualcomm was revealed to be facing two separate investigations from the European Commission over its chip-making business.

The investigations look to determine whether the company abused its market leader position and engaged in ‘predatory pricing’ to gain an industry advantage.

If all this mobile chip talk has got you hankering for a new handset, check out our smartphone group test video below:

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