Lenovo fires over 1,000 more employees, mostly from Motorola

Lenovo on Tuesday confirmed it would make around 1,100 people, or less than 2 percent of its approximately 55,000 employees globally, redundant. The cuts mostly impact employees in Lenovo's Motorola Mobility smartphone division.

In a statement, Lenovo said the current round of layoffs is part of "the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business" as the company "streamlines its product portfolio to best compete in the global smartphone market".

Lenovo said the cuts are necessary for the long-term financial health of the company.

Last year, Levono reduced its headcount by 3,200 in response to global economic uncertainties, currency fluctuations, decline in PC demand, and increase in smartphone competition. In a statement late last year, Lenovo said the layoffs, affecting its non-manufacturing workforce, would save approximately $1.35 billion in annual wages.

The latest wave of cuts comes after the company announced it delivered $10.1 billion in revenue last quarter ending June 30, a 6 percent decrease year-on-year in consolidated revenue.

Reports have said over 50 percent of Motorola's existing US staff have been made redundant. However, Lenovo maintains that it will keep its Motorola Mobility headquarters in Chicago, refuting rumours that it may move remaining staff to North Carolina where Lenovo US is based.

"Lenovo is absolutely committed to Chicago and we plan to maintain our Motorola Mobility headquarters there. Chicago has a well-deserved reputation for technical excellence and as the hub of our global R&D for our smartphone business we expect to take advantage of local talent to continue developing Moto products there," Lenovo said.

One of Lenovo's first major layoffs was back in 2009, when it announced that it would reduce its workforce by 2,500 employees, 11 percent of its staff at the time.