A headquarters move and an axed sale were the big headlines generated recently by Orange County’s largest consumer electronics makers as employment held steady.
The 18 biggest marketers and manufacturers of consumer electronics here added 30 positions in the year ended April 30, ending with 4,618 employees, up nearly 1%.
The list, which is in its second year, includes companies based here and others with headquarters in Asia that have significant operations in OC. They range from global leaders to startups covering a cross-section of industries, including TVs, computers, speakers, storage products and remote controls.
• No. 1, Western Digital Corp., the world’s largest disk drive maker, had an estimated 1,700 local workers at its Irvine office at Park Place. That number will decrease by at least 51 by June 6, according to a recent layoff notice with the state Employment Development Department.
The company, which posts annual sales of about $13 billion, will have shed more than 250 local positions, including the recent round of job cuts, since the beginning of last year.
The Business Journal last month reported that Western Digital moved its headquarters from Irvine to San Jose as its Silicon Valley operation took on greater importance since its $4.8 billion buy of San Jose-based HGST in 2012 and its $17 billion takeover last year of SanDisk Corp. in nearby Milpitas.
Its former headquarters at Park Place will remain a key operational hub, according to the company, though it hasn’t provided details regarding operations or employment there, despite several inquiries.
• No. 5, Vizio Inc., cut two jobs, leaving it with 232 workers at its Spectrum headquarters.
The company’s proposed $2 billion sale to Chinese conglomerate LeEco collapsed last month due to “regulatory headwinds,” the companies said.
The Business Journal had reported for months that the deal was in jeopardy as LeEco faced a cash crunch due to expanding product lines and markets, including a U.S. launch.
Vizio, which competes against Samsung as the top U.S. seller of smart TVs, hasn’t signaled a new path since the axed deal, though it pondered an initial public offering in 2015 before being courted by LeEco and agreeing to the sale last July.
Vizio was the sixth largest private company headquartered in OC last year based on $3.5 billion in sales in 2015.
• Taiwan-based memory product maker Transcend Information Inc., whose U.S. headquarters is in Orange, moved up two spots to No. 10 after adding 14 employees, taking it up to 55, a 34% jump over a year earlier.
“Transcend’s growth has been driven by three main factors: the proliferation of IoT devices globally, insatiable appetite for solid state drives, and a longer than expected NAND shortage that continues to drive prices higher,” General Manager Andy Hinckle said. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in the medical, gaming, security and surveillance and industrial PC markets over the past year.”
NAND flash is the most popular rewritable memory chip used in USB drives, cameras, iPods, smartphones, tablets and other devices.
• Huntington Beach-based OrigAudio LLC moved up one spot to No. 14 after adding eight positions to take it to 30 workers. The 36.4% increase was the biggest jump of any company on the list.
The company, which came on to the scene in 2009 with its Fold n’ Play speaker, has diversified into new products, including headphones and other accessories, such as power banks and cords.
Its latest launch of smart-tech backpacks has been a hit, according to founder Jason Lucash.
“We designed them in-house, which meant we had complete control of materials, functionality, and features. We paid attention to every detail, down to the zipper pulls, and made sure we designed something we’d be proud to wear and use on a daily basis,” he said. “The bags have really taken off for us and have become the largest area of growth thus far in 2017.”
Employers on the list added 5,390 companywide jobs during the year, taking their combined workforce to 482,029, up 1%. Tokyo-based Canon Inc. led the gains, adding about 8,100 positions for 197,673.
