Sony moved to cut costs at its struggling Mobile Communications business by shutting a smartphone factory in Beijing and shifting production to Thailand, Reuters reported.

A company representative told the news agency the closure is part of aims to turn around its loss-making handset business by April 2020 and was not related to US-Chinese trade issues. The company didn’t disclose the number of jobs which would be affected.

Earlier this week Sony announced a restructuring, with its mobile unit to become part of the new Electronics Products & Solutions division from 1 April, alongside the company’s Imaging Products & Solutions and Home Entertainment & Sound businesses.

Reports this week noted that despite its strong digital imaging credentials, the company’s smartphones have failed to impress when compared with rivals.

The mobile unit suffered a significant decrease in smartphone shipments in its fiscal Q3 ending 31 December 2018, shipping 1.8 million units compared with 4 million in the comparable fiscal 2017 quarter. Sales of JPY137.2 billion ($1.3 billion) were down 37 per cent year-on-year, and the company reported an operating loss of JPY15.5 billion for the business compared with a prior-year JPY15.8 billion profit.