Motorola Mobility headquarters in Libertyville, Illinois
Mobile device maker Motorola Mobility is to cut 20pc of its workforce and close up shop at about a third of its 94 offices worldwide in an exit from unprofitable markets.
The company will also narrow its focus to a few mobile phones instead of dozens, and will stop making low-end devices, The New York Times reported chief executive Dennis Woodside as saying.
These cuts are behind the plans of Motorola Mobility’s parent company, internet search giant Google, to revamp the company that is trailing behind smartphone giants Apple and Samsung.
Google has also made changes to Motorola’s management, having let go 40pc of the company’s vice-presidents and having hired new senior executives, The New York Times report said.
Motorola also plans to reduce operations in India and other parts of Asia, as well as centre research and development in Chicago, Illinois; Sunnyvale, California; and Beijing, China.
Google acquired Motorola Mobility in May for US$12.5bn, with a goal of using Motorola’s more than 17,000 patents to ward off legal attacks on its Android operating system and develop better mobile devices.
