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