Motorola's next hit will have to create itself
Posted
Jun 13 2008, 02:17 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Motorola slashes its research division, cutting nearly a quarter of the jobs, reassigning another quarter and pulling the plug on some projects. It's all part of the company's drive to save $500 million this year. Motorola shares were up 1% at 11:30 a.m. PST to $9.05.
I realize the company has some tough financial choices right now, but with the technological innovation coming out this year from Apple, Research in Motion and other handset makers, shouldn't Motorola beef up its R&D instead? You're not going to get another Razr unless you work at it. As one analyst told The Chicago Tribune, "There's no way to positively spin this....You're not going to come out with new product. The only thing it's going to do is reduce expenses, which is a short-term benefit."
We don't know that the company has specifically cut its handset research, but that segment can't help but be affected in a shakeup of this magnitude.
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