Technologies

Xiaomi Begins Layoffs To Cut Up To 10% of Workforce

The Chinese company said it employed more than 35,300 workers in September of this year.

Xiaomi begun large-scale layoffs this week, with plans to reduce its workforce by up to 10 percent.

The Chinese company said it had «recently implemented routine personnel optimization and organizational streamlining, with affected parties totalling less than 10% of total workforce,» in an official statement on Tuesday.

Xiaomi’s total headcount stood at 35,314 workers as of September 30, according to its third-quarter financial results for this year, with a large majority of those workers (32,609) based in mainland China followed by India and Indonesia.

News of the layoffs was was first reported by the South China Morning Post, citing social media posts by affected workers as well as local Chinese media. The layoffs at Xiaomi come as mainland China grapples with the economic aftermath of years-long COVID-19 restrictions as well as slowing global smartphone demand. In November, Xiaomi reported a near 10% drop in third quarter revenue with smartphone sales falling 11% year-on-year. Revenue from smartphones make up approximately 60% of the company’s total sales.

Xiaomi is one of the world’s largest smartphone makers. The Beijing-based company is estimated to have shipped more than 190 million smartphone units in 2021, which represents an increase of 45 million units compared to the year before, according to Statista.

The layoffs at Xiaomi follow a spate of layoffs across a number of Big Tech firms, which saw companies including Meta, Twitter, and Amazon undergo large-scale layoffs.

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Technologies

Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.