Libertyville, Ill. — Motorola Mobility has begun to lay off about 1,200 people.
“These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer,” a spokesperson told TWICE.
Last August, Motorola owner Google announced plans for a workforce reduction of 4,000 of Motorola’s then-20,000 staff. The spokesperson didn’t comment on whether the most recent layoffs are part of the original 4,000, but press reports said the new layoffs come on top of the previously announced layoffs.
At the time of the original layoff announcement, Google said Motorola would leave unprofitable markets, exit the low-end device market, and focus only on a few cellphones instead of dozens to return the mobile business to profitability. Google also said about two-thirds of those reductions would occur outside the U.S.
Google purchased Motorola Mobility last May for $12.5 billion, in large part to acquire Motorola’s patent portfolio to deter other mobile-device makers and tech companies from suing it over patent infringement.
Motorola Mobility posted operating losses in each quarter in 2011 and 2012.
