When Google’s Eric Schmidt introduced “The New Motorola” on stage last year, after appointing Googler Dennis Woodside CEO of Motorola, it was made clear that the company would undergo some serious restructuring to fit in more with Google’s corporate values. What was unclear at the time was the volume of jobs the company would be shaving in order to bring the mobile manufacturer to profitability.
Google inherited quite a mess when they purchased Motorola. 18 months of products that weren’t likely to sell particularly well, a relationship with Verizon Wireless that promoted things like locked bootloader and bloatware, and a corporate ecosystem that was too large to succeed in the market today.
Since the announcement of “The New Motorola” there’s been a lot of changes made to try and right the ship. Google employees were put in key leadership positions, rumors of a powerful X Phone coupled with UI changes to make their phones look more like Stock Android, and now two different workforce adjustments. The company has confirmed today that 1,200 jobs have been cut on top of the 4,000 jobs that were cut back in August, with no confirmation as to whether or not more will come after this.
It’s not all layoffs in Motorola land. Recently the company hired Guy Kawasaki to advise on the next steps for the company. Guy made a name for himself as an Apple evangelist early on, but has since moved to support the Android platform as well as Google’s social network. The hope is that Guy’s influence alongside other Google transplants will work to fix the existing pipeline of products and set up a business model moving forward that leaves the company more able to compete with Samsung and Apple in the next year.
Google inherited quite a mess when they purchased Motorola. 18 months of products that weren’t likely to sell particularly well, a relationship with Verizon Wireless that promoted things like locked bootloader and bloatware, and a corporate ecosystem that was too large to succeed in the market today.
Since the announcement of “The New Motorola” there’s been a lot of changes made to try and right the ship. Google employees were put in key leadership positions, rumors of a powerful X Phone coupled with UI changes to make their phones look more like Stock Android, and now two different workforce adjustments. The company has confirmed today that 1,200 jobs have been cut on top of the 4,000 jobs that were cut back in August, with no confirmation as to whether or not more will come after this.
It’s not all layoffs in Motorola land. Recently the company hired Guy Kawasaki to advise on the next steps for the company. Guy made a name for himself as an Apple evangelist early on, but has since moved to support the Android platform as well as Google’s social network. The hope is that Guy’s influence alongside other Google transplants will work to fix the existing pipeline of products and set up a business model moving forward that leaves the company more able to compete with Samsung and Apple in the next year.
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