Battery Developer Enovix Lays Off Roughly One-Third of Staff
Company aims to reduce annual costs by $35 million.
A week after reporting a battery development agreement with an unnamed maker of smartphones, silicon battery maker Enovix on Monday laid off approximately 170 workers at its Fremont, Calif., factory. The layoff appeared to be part of a company attempt, announced last week, to reduce annual operating costs by $35 million before the end of the year.
In the company’s first quarter earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Raj Talluri said that one of the five biggest smartphone makers had agreed to develop a battery for a smartphone, but did not disclose which company. In a note to clients, Cowen Securities analyst Gabe Daoud speculated that it was one of two Chinese smartphone makers—Xiaomi or OPPO. Since the announcement, Enovix’s share price has risen by more than 55%.