Motorola Q3 to cause job cuts

Jobs will be cut at Motorola following weaker than expected Q3 results, which the firm blamed on falling sales of semi-conductors and mobile phones.

Profit was down 58 per cent to $206 million, compared with $496 million for the same quarter last year. Sales for the quarter were down five per cent to $6.5 billion, from $6.9 billion last year.

A spate of cost-cutting and redundancies will follow, leaving Motorola facing more expenditure, which it said will impact on Q4 results.

Manufacturing costs and sales costs rose during Q3 to 69 per cent of sales, this was up from 64 per cent of sales for the same period last year.

Chip maker AMD has experienced improved results despite recording substantial losses. Turnover for Q3, ended 29 September, was $456.9 million, down 25 per cent from $606.9 million for the same period last year. For Q3, AMD recorded a loss of $38.4 million, compared with a profit of $42 million for Q3 1995.