Samsung Electronics ends mobile phone production in China

SamsungElectronicsCo Ltdhas endedmobiletelephoneproductioninChina, it said on Wednesday, hurt by intensifying competition from domestic rivals in the world's biggest smartphonemarket.

The shutdown ofSamsung's lastChinaphonefactory comes months after it cutproductionat the plant in the southern city of Huizhou in June and suspended another factory late last year, underscoring gruelling competition in the country.

The South Korean firm's share of the Chinese market shrunk to 1 per centin the first quarter from around 15 per centin mid-2013, as it lost out to fast-growing homegrown brands such as Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp, according to market research firm Counterpoint.

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Samsung, the world's top smartphonemaker, said it made a difficult decision in a bid to boost efficiency.

"Theproductionequipment will be re-allocated to other global manufacturing sites, depending on our globalproductionstrategy based on market needs," it said in a statement, without elaborating.

Samsungdeclined to specify the plant's capacity and numbers of staff. The company has been expanding smartphoneproductionin lower-cost countries, such as India and Vietnam, in recent years.