Google to fire 1,200 Motorola workers

San Francisco - Google will let go an additional 1,200 employees at its struggling smartphone maker Motorola Mobility, the company said Friday.

The layoffs, which were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal, follow a previous round of 4,000 job losses announced in August, when a third of Motorola’s production facilities were put on the cutting block.

"These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer. It’s obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition," Motorola said in a statement.

Google bought the cell-phone pioneer in 2012 for 12.4 billion dollars after years in which Motorola had struggled to compete with newer smartphone giants such as Apple and Samsung.//DPA