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Google is continuing to lay off staff at Motorola, which it bought last year. According to an email to employees — seen by the Wall Street Journal — a further 1,200 of them will get the chop. That’s about 10 per cent of Motorola’s workforce.
The cuts are in addition to 4,000 layoffs that started last August, when Google said it would lose 20 per cent of Motorola’s staff. Tough times.
The email said that while Google is “very optimistic about the new products in our pipeline, we still face challenges.” It added that “our costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive and we’re losing money.” Staff in the US, India, and China will be among those let go.
Motorola continues to haemorrhage cash since Google took it over. It posted losses of more than $500 million (£335 million) and over $350 million (£234 million) in the third and fourth quarters of 2012 respectively. The next flagship device — dubbed the X Phone — is rumoured to be in the works, and is said to be quite a doozy, with gesture recognition expected to play a big part in the camera software. It could also be quite affordable, like the Nexus 4. An X Tablet is expected to follow.
Google recently admitted it was using Motorola as an insurance policy against Samsung. Samsung is the biggest smart phone maker in the world now, after all, so I can see why Google feels it needs a hardware failsafe. Google is moving more into products, but usually outsources production to the likes of Asus or LG. The X Phone would be the first it’s made using Motorola.
What do you think of Google’s actions since taking over Motorola? And what would you like to see from an X Phone? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.
