pack nucleon: Motorola to cut its workforce by 20 percent, shutter a third of its offices worldwide

Monday, August 13, 2012

Motorola to cut its workforce by 20 percent, shutter a third of its offices worldwide

When Google acquired Motorola Mobility, Larry Page said the move would help "supercharge the Android ecosystem," but first, the firm needs to reorganize. That seems to be starting -- the company just announced that it will be closing a third of its 94 offices and laying off 20 percent of its workforce, including 40 percent of its vice presidents. The move will scale back its presence in Asia and India, says the New York Times, and will center its operations in Chicago, Sunnyvale and Beijing. The new, smaller Motorola will be working on less devices too, focusing on releasing a few high quality handsets each year as opposed to several dozen. Less phones means less parts, of course, and the firm says it will be dropping some suppliers and will be buying half as many components as a result. We're all for the new Moto's less-is-more approach and the potential it has to breed a new Nexus device, but Google's already made it clear that it isn't playing favorites with OEMs. Either way, it's a start.

Filed under: Cellphones