Google Reportedly Plans Shutting Down Motorola Spain

Last month, reports regarding Google’s decision to significantly reduce the workforce of Motorola Mobility have emerged online, suggesting that over 20 percent of phone maker’s employees would be given the pink slip.

4,000 people were said at the time to be losing their jobs as part of Google’s plans on the matter, but specific info on which of them will be affected was not made available.

94 Motorola offices around the world were rumored to have been planned for closing, and Motorola Spain appears to be one of them.

Although confirmation on the matter was not provided as of yet, a recent article on xataka suggests that the 50 people working at the moment for Motorola Spain will be sent home as of December 31st, 2012.

Apparently, Spain is only one of the countries that will remain without a Motorola office at the end of this year.

Google is also said to plan shutting down locations in 30 European countries in the coming weeks, with the only Motorola offices remaining operational being those in UK, France and Germany.

Rumor has it that Motorola will also stop distributing new smartphones in the country via wireless carriers, though this comes rather hard to believe.

After all, Google needs Motorola to remain strong on the market, and is certainly looking at new ways to improve its market share, and killing carrier agreements does not fit in this scenario.

In fact, while citing GFK data, xataka also notes that Spain is the European country where most Motorola smartphones are being sold. Wireless carriers in the local market have experienced a significant increase in sales of Motorola smartphones in the past months, it seems.

Undoubtedly, other mobile phone makers are enjoying more market share on the Old continent, but Motorola is gaining more traction too, and is even said to have experienced a 280 percent growth in Spain on a yearly basis.

With no confirmation on Google’s plans for the various Motorola offices around the world, we still have no explanation for a possible shut down of the Spanish branch. However, should the rumor prove true, more specifics on this decision are also expected to be provided, so stay tuned for more on the matter.