Motorola Moving Chip-Design Units to China, India Mar 9, 2004

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Schaumburg, IL, U.S.-based Motorola Inc. has announced plans to shut its semiconductor chip design units in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and move them to India and China. A total of about 50 jobs would be lost in the move.

"We are consolidating our design resources and this is part of our semiconductor product sector," an unnamed Motorola spokeswoman said. "For all three design centers, we are looking at fewer than 50 employees in total."

The spokeswoman said the move was partly aimed at trimming costs.

Motorola and its rivals, including number one cell-phone maker Nokia of Finland, have suffered a slowdown in demand for mobile phones and wireless network equipment over the past couple of years. However, demand has been picking up in recent months.

In January 2004, Motorola posted a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, but sales in the wireless phone unit fell, hit by delays in deliveries of new products offering popular features such as integrated digital cameras and color screens.

Drawn by low-cost wages, multinational companies -- from telecommunications to footwar -- have been turning in droves to India and China, nourishing a massive outsourcing industry. (Reuters)

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