Google announces 4,000 job cuts at Motorola Mobility

Google is to cut Motorola Mobility's global workforce by about 4,000, or 20 per cent, and will look to close about a third of its 94 worldwide offices.

A Motorola spokesperson confirmed the job cuts in a statement and stated that the majority of the reductions are set to take place outside of the US.

"Today, Motorola Mobility announced that it's reducing its headcount by approximately 4,000. Two-thirds of the reduction is set to occur outside of the US. In addition, Motorola plans to close or consolidate about one-third of its 90 facilities," the spokesperson said.

Google acquired the mobile phone company for abou $12.5bn (£7.7bn) in August 2011 as it looked to leverage Motorola's handset making expertise for its Android platform, while also acquiring thousands of its patents.

Motorola was once dominant in the mobile device market but the rise of Apple's iPhone and other smartphones meant that it struggled to keep up.

Dennis Woodside, Motorola's new chief executive, told the New York Times that the company would shift its focus to delivering a few mobile devices instead of dozens.

"We're excited about the smartphone business. The Google business is built on a wired model, and as the world moves to a pretty much completely wireless model over time, it's really going to be important for Google to understand everything about the mobile consumer," he said.

Motorola Mobility's statement said the firm would look to "simplify its mobile product portfolio – shifting the emphasis from feature phones to more innovative and profitable devices.

"While Motorola expects this strategy to create new opportunities and help return its mobile devices unit to profitability, it understands how hard these changes will be for the employees concerned," the statement said.