Motorola Mobility, who has kept a low profile in Australia since launching their Razr smartphone last year, is set to see their workforce slashed by 20%. It is not known whether the Australian operation will be affected.According to reports, Google – the new owner of Motorola Mobility – wants to cut costs at the struggling phone Company while initiating new programs aimed at “reinventing” the smartphone manufacturer.
More than 4,000 people will be retrenched with two-thirds of the reduction is set to occur outside of the U.S.
Google has said they will only focus on markets where the Company is profitable. It is not known whether Motorola Mobility is profitable in Australia.
They are also set to reduce its smartphone range and ditch low-end handsets all together.
Google acquired Motorola Mobility primarily to get their hands on 17,000 patents and to produce its own line of smartphones and tablets. Recently the search Company announced a new Nexus 7″ tablet in partnership with Asus. Samsung is set to manufacture the next Nexus smartphone according to sources.
A spokesperson said “Motorola plans to close or consolidate about one-third of its 90 facilities as well as simplify its mobile product portfolio–shifting the emphasis from feature phones to more innovative and profitable devices”.
“While Motorola expects this strategy to create new opportunities and help return its mobile devices unit to profitability, it understands how hard these changes will be for the employees concerned.
“Motorola is committed to helping them through this difficult transition and will be providing generous severance packages, as well as outplacement services to help people find new jobs.”
