Google implements more job cuts at loss-making Motorola

Google has announced 1,200 job cuts at its Motorola Mobility division in an effort to revive the loss-making unit which it acquired for $12.5bn (£8.3bn) last year. The layoffs will mainly affect Google employees in US, China and India. The internet giant had cut 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility in August last year as Google seeks to make more smartphones and fewer simple handsets. Motorola Mobility was Google’s biggest takeover aimed at using its armoury of patents to fend off legal attacks on Google’s Android mobile platform and expand beyond its software business.

Since the acquisition was completed, Motorola has continued to show operating losses as its smartphone and tablet market share fell. In the third quarter of 2012, it posted an operating loss of more than $500 million and a loss of more than $350 million in the fourth quarter. Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page is streamlining the company as it pushes into the hardware market.

Announcing the job cuts, Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick stated in an internal email, “These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer. It’s obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition. Our costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive and we’re losing money.”

Motorola, which once dominated the mobile phone market, has been overtaken by its competitors Apple and Samsung. Motorola Mobility was created in 2011 when Motorola Inc split the company into a mobile devices unit and a government and public safety division known as Motorola Solutions.