Siemens unit axes Chinese factory in cost-cutting drive

An energy saving lamp produced by electric bulb maker Osram. Osram, soon to be spun off by its parent company, engineering giant Siemens, said on Thursday, March 7, 2013, it was selling a factory in China as part of a drive to slash 8,000 jobs worldwide. AFP PHOTO ARMIN WEIGEL

BERLIN—German light bulb maker Osram, soon to be spun off by its parent company, engineering giant Siemens, said on Thursday it was selling a factory in China as part of a drive to slash 8,000 jobs worldwide.

Osram is selling the plant in the southern Chinese city of Shaoxing to the Hong Kong-based firm Super Trend Lighting Limited, the German firm said, declining to reveal the financial details of the deal.

“With this sale, we have achieved a further milestone in the restructuring of the business,” said Osram chief executive Wolfgang Dehen.

The sale of the plant is part of the drive to save 1.0 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by 2015.

“With the planned disposal of Shaoxing, Osram has achieved half of its planned cuts of 8,000 jobs by 2014 worldwide in our traditional business activity,” the firm said in its statement.

Osram is grappling with a shift in the industry from traditional light bulbs to light-emitting diodes (LED), a technology where Asian rivals have built up capacity and driven down prices.

Last year, parent company Siemens said it would spin off 80.5 percent of the lighting unit with a view to proceeding with the long-planned stock market listing of the subsidiary later.