Motorola shuts down Singapore unit

Motorola shuts down Singapore unit

SINGAPORE: Motorola Inc., the world's second largest mobile phone maker, said Tuesday it had shut down its semiconductor chip-design operations in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong and moved them to China and India.

A total of 50 jobs will be lost at the old design centers, said Motorola spokeswoman Lynn Chan in Singapore.

Half of the jobs lost will be in Singapore, where Motorola employs about 2,000 workers.

The cuts were designed to trim costs and concentrate design and manufacturing operations in the same locations, Chan said.

Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, had been struggling through a global slowdown in demand for mobile phones and wireless network technology. It has seen signs of market recovery in recent months. -- AP