Motorola laying off throngs, focusing on Android alone for smartphones

Phone Scoop is reporting that doomsday is imminent for Motorola, possibly as soon as this week. First off, up to half of employees from the company's handset division will be shown the door, though the other divisions -- Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Home & Networks Mobility -- will be unaffected. Fewer employees inevitably leads to fewer phones, and it's being said that Moto will produce just twelve models per year; among smartphones, only Android will be considered. What's more, the company is pulling out of April's CTIA show -- the largest mobile event in the States -- so it looks like that Android gear won't be coming until later on. We'll have more on this as soon as we know what's up.

[KAIKAI @ Jan 11th 2009 8:52PM]

we need obama power to fix teh economies :D

[Bob @ Jan 11th 2009 9:33PM]

If you think one man can fix our entire economy (no matter who it is), I've got some land** in Florida I want to sell you.








** Land location undisclosed. Not responsible if any structure erected on the site should sink or float away out to sea.

[m @ Jan 12th 2009 12:05AM]

if only took one man to wreck this country, so i'm willing to believe his replacement can inspire the rest of us to fix.

[OneLove @ Jan 12th 2009 10:23AM]

I read that as "Motorola laying off THONGS".

[Rafer @ Jan 11th 2009 8:53PM]

Good! Maybe the big V will take up some Moto Android handsets.

[Neil @ Jan 11th 2009 8:54PM]

motorolla just needs to fix it's os; then everything will be all better.

[the happiest mac @ Jan 11th 2009 8:58PM]

ala android

[Regor @ Jan 14th 2009 5:12PM]

They need / needed to pay attention to the users. The phones work but the method to get to the functions is Byzantine at best.

[idiot @ Jan 11th 2009 8:58PM]

Dear Moto,

Please don't lay off ALL thongs, some are quite nice.

Sincerely,
MEN

[the happiest mac @ Jan 11th 2009 8:59PM]

capacitive(if not already) surf with android!!!

[the happiest mac @ Jan 11th 2009 9:07PM]

12 phones in one year thats 12x more than apple

[oh.ppie @ Jan 11th 2009 10:24PM]

Apple also sells multiple computers and iPods, not including Apple branded accessories...

Sure the iPhone is an amazing phone, but Motorola has an unmatched build quality and sound quality for many of their phones.

Go hump your Apple products, stupid fanboy.

[the happiest mac @ Jan 11th 2009 11:38PM]

me fanboy for saying that apple produces one phone a year? i was stating that it isnt bad that they are cuttinf back on producing new phones, i was stating that other companies get by making less phones so maybe this isnt sooo bad.

[shugg @ Jan 12th 2009 2:53AM]

12 more than apple and still cant dethrone the top dawg.Overhyped android os, so far blows hard. all major cell manufacturers/carriers have all come out with their version of iphonekiller since 062907 and here we are almost 2 years after iphone was introduced n still playing catchup. samsung,lg,blackberry,sony,nokia,htc,motocrapola,sanyo,.sprint,tmobil,verizon,alltell,virginmobile,metropcs,boost,etc etc and have all officially failed/tanked miserably. bro,stop being a hater. by the way lg prada was introduced dec 21 2006,iphone was introduced to the world 010406.

[Jason @ Jan 14th 2009 11:02AM]

@happiest - No, "you fanboy" for being named the happiest mac and for getting so excited about it that you can't even type straight.

[bjay @ Jan 11th 2009 9:23PM]

Some form of New-ness is need in Motorla, that ll help them alot

[Freakin Ijit @ Jan 12th 2009 5:58AM]

Yeah, probably gonna merge/buy with Palm.

Hmmm...is Android under the covers of Pre? We don't know WHAT is yet.

[spam_free @ Jan 11th 2009 9:40PM]

So this means no more WinMo for Moto. And this coincides with Microsoft looking to cut down on WinMo models. Android may become more of a threat to WinMo than Microsoft predicted. 12 models a year is still a lot of phones. RIM and Apple both sell a ton of phones and I don't think they add up to 12 models.

[Levi @ Jan 11th 2009 9:40PM]

I think this is about the smartestest thing Motorolla could do to stop losing monies

[Cal @ Jan 11th 2009 9:48PM]

i thought it said thongs lol

[jweaks @ Jan 11th 2009 9:59PM]

Motorola = Dilbert

[haX0r @ Jan 11th 2009 10:40PM]

Best thing Moto could have done.

[Quikboy @ Jan 11th 2009 10:57PM]

No more Moto Q's with WinMo? :(

[the happiest mac @ Jan 11th 2009 11:40PM]

still gonna be qs, just with android wich i think will be better.

[Quikboy @ Jan 12th 2009 5:07PM]

@the happiest mac : Well I'd hate to say Android is the all far better OS, considering it's still relatively new. As far as I know, Android has been doing what WinMo has always been doing. It's just open source, and that's about it.

[ace587 @ Jan 11th 2009 11:21PM]

thats what happens when u milk a product to death. Were not surprised and we saw this coming.

[ross @ Jan 11th 2009 11:54PM]

but..the razr..

[superhobo @ Jan 12th 2009 12:23AM]

Stop making ugly phones, then.

[Sparatan117 @ Jan 12th 2009 12:37AM]

well you have to admit, at least all motorola phones can cut copy paste and can send and receive MMS.....Apple can't say that as much not to mention Apples OS is glitchy and crashes when it becomes overloaded (I speak as one who owns an iPhone and has a G1 in route currently ^_^) ...i mean the Razr is still currently the most sold phone on the market every 1/20 people have them and for instance my dad wanted to get my step mom a new phone for her past birthday so he got her a razr...it works it calls, it recieves and sends messages and picture messages...i mean what more can you ask for if your a simple person? Motorola is like the poor mans Pinto haha

btw I could care less about GM but as for Ford, Their Trucks and Mustangs are undeniably good so far. The new F-150 has a 6 speed transmission which gets 24-26 (based on enothol vs non ethnol) miles per gallon on the highway and the mustang gets around 28 so having a Detroit muscle these days isn't a bad thing anymore, not to mention I don't see Honda and Toyota throwing Lifetime power train warranties at you...just a thought

[shugg @ Jan 12th 2009 3:11AM]

1.not all motorola phones can copy n paste.
2.yes al motorola phones do send mms,even the $12 ones that u use to wipe your ass in case u outta toilet paper.
3. apple os is top notch,revolutionary n know,u just trolling.
4.a g1,ouch i have pity on u,make sure that 30 day return policy is in writing.youll need it.say hello to 1999 3.5 mm jack technology.
5.razr is officially not the number 1 selling throw away handset in the usa as of nov.guess who is.razr is avail thru 9 usa carriers.iphone just 1.iphone $199 razr free and still outselling razr.imagine that.
6.i guess your saying your stepmom is a simple,poor pinto loving person.
7.honda toyota dont need 100k mile warranties,or rebates/employee discount to sell cars.they sell themselves.i would never be caught dead in an american car.jap or german for me.

[chefgon_ign @ Jan 12th 2009 6:43AM]

Hating on the iPhone is silly, but hating on the G1 is silly too. They are two of the best phones on the market today, you really can't go wrong with either one.

[LPD @ Jan 12th 2009 12:57AM]

Look for Google to purchase the cell phone division of Motorola this year.

[Virtuous @ Jan 12th 2009 3:02AM]

Motorola should have made these decisions months ago.

[tiffanyacz @ Jan 13th 2009 3:29AM]

Anyway, if motorola runs Android, does it support more video format file?
Now I use the mobile phone converter to convert DVD and video to mpbile phone http://www.convert-video-dvd.com/dvd-to-mobilephone-suite.html#115 Does it can't play regular video format I have if it runs with Android?

[chefgon_ign @ Jan 12th 2009 6:40AM]

Does anybody else have the feeling that Motorola is just going to close their handset division entirely before anybody actually sees any of these fabled Android phones?

[NickNick @ Jan 12th 2009 8:46AM]

Engadget, your pics of the motorola logo always crack me up, my favourite one was where you put the motorola 'M' on top of the Android robot and it looked very batman-y

ha!

[Dan @ Jan 12th 2009 9:00AM]

I'm a longtime Moto fan and this is just sad to see. They milked the RAZR far too long and got passed by in both hardware and software. It's too bad because Moto phones have always had the best RF signal capture (IMO). I think it's risky to bet the farm on an unproven smartphone OS platform with few applications available, but I agree with the poster above that Google may purchase Moto's handset division - it makes sense from a vertical integration standpoint if they will be strictly an Android shop. They haven't had any innovative phones for a while. I've got a Q9h right now and it's a pretty good PDA/phone but I've got my first non-Moto phone in 10 years on the way (HTC Fuze) and there's something sad about that. Maybe the Android bet will work and I'll be back in a couple of years, but somehow I doubt it.

[ZOLE2112 @ Jan 12th 2009 9:43AM]

It's always interesting and extremely uninformative to read someone bashing something they know nothing about. I have a G1 and I love it, Android rocks which is even more impressive since its a 1G OS. Several of my friends have iPhones (hope I don't get negative ratings due to mentioning the i word) and the OS is comparable in ease of use, notice I didn't say they were the same only comparible. I chose the G1 for the OS, the open source concept and for things the iPhone doesn't have...removable battery for example (when my friends iPhones are dead I can just pop in my spare battery). I don't have to list the G1 or iPhone attributes, you all know them. Shugg is obviously an idiot based on pretty much all of his posts. While he wallows in his Steve Jobs controlled and restricted iPhone I eagerly await the upcoming Android "Cupcake" update...surely some fanboy will have a derogatory comment about the "Cupcake" name.

[LonnieDvD @ Jan 13th 2009 5:30PM]

Damn, half of their people might be gone. Very few of us are actually safe anymore.

[dan @ Jan 15th 2009 7:06AM]

ZOLE2112......a decent honest post, THANX. shugg is on some distant planet or the boy toy of Steve Jobs, couldn't quite discern that from his/her stupid post. Now let's look historically at how the products developed. About 20 years ago, there were no cell phones, only landlines. There WAS a handset market and MTOT owned the market. There were other products but way back then, MOTO had figured out how to make rugged and reliable equipment that actually worked and carried good quality voice transmissions for a limited distance. They perfected that as years passed and it is still fairly normal to see these products in facilities where employees communicate internally like security or maintenance personnel at larger facilities. When the RAZR came out it as the cat's as and everyone wanted one. With that kind of market domination, one would hope to see new MOTO products but they rode that beeotch into the ground and released boring stuff the last couple of years. I for one don't want a phone to do half assed internet wearches or navigation, I have computers, laptops and GPS units for these things. A handheld is good for specific things but a phone that tries to do too much becomes average at best and doesn't do anything great including making & receiving calls. A phone/text/pager is fine and a handheld for internet and small apps works fine too. If and when they perfect one device doing all things mobile, I still won't buy it, they are just a pain in the ass. I like my phone to make and receive calls and text messages, not watch movies or search the web while I try to read miniscule words. Kind of reminds me of the refridgerator I saw about five yeaars ago with a monitor on the front - not a good idea.