Mark LaPedus Courtesy of EE Times (11/18/2007 12:35 PM EST)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has cut more than 1,600 jobs since March amid a major restructuring effort, according to a report from the Korea Times.

In August, Samsung announced a series of restructuring measures to cut costs and otherwise shakeup the complacent company. They included voluntary retirement programs and a corporate reorganization, according to the report.

According to South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, Samsung Electronics had 85,269 employees as the end of September, down 1,630 from the 86,899 as of March this year, according to the report.

Management headcount hit 821, down 15 from the same period, according to the service, which is the nation's financial watchdog.

The moves follow a major DRAM downturn and a lackluster memory market. Several executives from Samsung Electronics have also recently agreed to plead guilty to participating in a global conspiracy to fix DRAM prices. And Samsung has also suffered from a recent power outage at its fabs, which upset its customers.

On Oct. 12, Samsung posted record revenue of 16.68 trillion won ($18.2 billion) for the third quarter of 2007 ended Sept. 30, up 10 percent from the like period a year ago and up 14 percent from the previous quarter. Operating profit on a consolidated basis reached 2.74 trillion won ($2.98 billion), a 93 percent increase over the last quarter.

Sales for the semiconductor business hit 5.01 trillion won ($5.45 billion) in the third quarter. Sales were up 2 percent year-over-year and up 18 percent sequentially.

Operating profit of the business on a consolidated basis more than doubled, or posted 860 billion won ($936.3 million). This compares to 340 billion won ($370.1 million) in the previous quarter and 1.38 trillion won ($1.5 billion) a year ago.

Memory sales were down 2 percent year-over-year but up 18 percent sequentially.

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