Motorola axes 7,000 more as job cull continues

Motorola has cut a further 7,000 jobs, including 700 from its plant in Swindon, in a bid to cut costs in the handset division.

The group blamed the cuts on reduced growth projections, and increased competition in the mobile phone handset market. This brings Motorola's total of job cuts to 12,000 in the past four months. The company also announced its market share assessment for the final quarter of 2000, which, at 14.4 per cent, is up one per cent on the previous quarter. Rival handset maker Alcatel also announced a halt in production at two French factories to cut excessive inventories, which it had previously blamed for a fall in revenues from its handset division.