Motorola continues cutting costs, eliminates another 400 jobs

Struggling cellphone maker Motorola Inc. said it will cut an additional 400 jobs beyond those announced in late October. The latest round of cuts will come from all of the company’s segments; the previous actions primarily affected the company’s mobile devices business.
Motorola’s stock was up slightly to around $4.29 per share after the announcement.
The move is just the latest streamlining effort by Motorola. Just a few weeks ago, Motorola said it would freeze pension plans and some salaries and suspend company contributions to employees’ 401(k) plans. The company’s co-CEOs said they would take a 25% cut in base salary.
The actions come amid significant upheaval at a company that once held the No. 2 position in the worldwide cellphone market (today it ranks fourth). In a bid to stabilize its business, Motorola earlier this year said it would spin off its loss-making handset division. In October, however, Motorola said it would delay the spin-off until sometime after 2009.
The company continues to face significant challenges from entrenched players like Nokia Corp. and upstarts like iPhone maker Apple Inc.