Motorola to cut 4,000 jobs — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Sales fall even sharper than expected} Motorola to cut 4,000 jobs

18 Jan 2009 at 10:52 GMT Timo Poropudas

Motorola Corp. said Wednesday it will cut an additional 4,000 jobs and report a fourth-quarter loss amid shrinking demand for its wireless phones.

With handset sales shrinking even faster that qanticipated Motorola has to cut spending to prevent losses from undermining its two other core segments, home entertainment and public safety.

"The company's tailspin is so dramatic it is hard to see how it can remain a global mass-market brand," analyst Tero Kuittinen of Global Crown Capital said according to MarketWatch.

Kuittinen thinks Motorola could eventually pull out of Asia and perhaps Europe to focus on the Americas, where the brand name is strongest.

Motorola also warned of lower-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter, citing weak sales of wireless phones in the slowing economy. The company expects to report a net loss of 7 cents to 8 cents a share for the final three months of 2008. Revenue for the year-end quarter is will between USD 7 billion and USD 7.2 billion.