Motorola Mobility, the ailing mobile device maker, has announced that it will slash 20 percent of its workforce and shut down about a third of its 94 worldwide offices. According to a New York Times report, one-third of the 4,000 jobs lost will be in the U.S.
The Illinois-based company intends to stop making low-end smartphones and will instead focus only on high-end phones equipped with sensors to detect people's movement in rooms, longer-lived batteries, and better cameras; thereby, hiring artificial intelligence and supply chain experts to meet the goal.
Back in May, Google Inc., after buying it last year, finally sealed the deal with the Motorola Mobility. The Internet giant closed the $12.5 billion deal nine months after it announced that it will broaden its horizon by foraying into the cellphone business. Now with this most expensive and riskiest acquisition in its 14-year history, Google will be in charge of a major smartphone, tablet, and set-top box maker. Google will also own a portfolio of useful and impressive 17,000 patents.
Dennis Woodside, the new CEO who replaced Sanjay Jha, said "We're excited about the smartphone business. The Google business is built on a wired model, and as the world moves to a pretty much completely wireless model over time, it's really going to be important for Google to understand everything about the mobile consumer."
The deal would change the current sorry situation of the company, believe experts. However, Motorola Mobility apparently still lags far behind smartphone competitors like Apple and Samsung.
According to the NYT report, Motorola plans to minimize the company's operations in Asia and India and center research and development in Chicago, Sunnyvale, and Beijing.
Motorola Mobility, however, did not respond to the news.
