Google is in the midst of “reinventing Motorola [Mobility]” – a company it recently finished acquiring – according to a report in the New York Times. An estimated 4,000 jobs will be cut (approximately 20% of the staff) in order to help Motorola return to profitability. The smartphone manufacturer used to be a major player in the industry, but Apple and Samsung have rapidly ate away at its market share and, therefore, profits. Nokia, RIM, and others, of course, are in the same boat.
In addition to the job cuts – one third of which will be in the US – Google plans to shut down one third of Motorola’s 94 offices located around the world and concentrate on Research & Development in three cities: Chicago, Sunnyvale, and Beijing. Google plans to focus Motorola’s efforts on a just a few high quality handsets with long battery life and other “cool” features. This is in sharp contrast to the 27 devices Motorola released last year and it follows a similar move by HTC a few months ago. Even Motorola’s ads are being reimagined with a more emotional, historic, and somewhat nostalgic approach.
With a parent company like Google, Motorola doesn’t have to be too worried about its financial future at the moment. But everyone involved no doubt hopes to return Motorola to its former glory – without upsetting Google’s other Android OEMs, of course.
