Motorola Mobility announced Monday that it would withdraw most of its operations in Korea next year, in line with its global reorganization program.

The Korean unit of the mobile handset maker said it was part of the restructuring that has been conducted by its U.S. headquarters.

Company officials said Motorola was realigning research and development organizations globally to focus its strength on markets where it can compete most effectively.

The company added that it would retain two business units in Korea, but analysts said the withdrawal meant that the company would no longer sell smartphones here.

The company said that it planned to provide about 10 percent of its R&D staff with the opportunity to work in other countries. But it did not disclose how many employees it would shed.

Market analysts said Motorola seemed to have made the decision due to its difficulty competing in the country’s smartphone handset market, which is dominated by Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Apple.

Since launching its sales in Korea in 1988, Motorola gained popularity thanks to its StarTec and Razr mobile phones. The company’s Korean market share rose to more than 5 percent in 2009 but nosedived to 0.3 percent this year.

Motorola conducted a spin-off of Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solution last year and sold Motorola Mobility to Google in May in a desperate effort to survive in the mobile device market. It also launched a massive restructuring worldwide in August.

Motorola Korea’s decision follows Taiwan’s mobile handset maker HTC’s shutdown of its office in Korea in July.

In October, Yahoo Korea also announced its decision to shut down its Korean business, including its Korean Internet portal service, becoming the portal giant’s first Asian shutdown.


By Cho Ji-hyun
(sharon@heraldcorp.com)


<관련 한글 기사>


아! 옛날이여, 모바일 거물 ‘또’ 퇴장


모토로라코리아는 스마트폰 등 국내 모바일 사업부를 철수한다고 10일 밝혔다.

이는 앞으로 국내에서 더 이상 모토로라의 스마트폰을 출시하지 않겠다는 의미다.

모토로라는 "전 세계적으로 연구•개발(R&D) 조직을 재편하고 있으며 가장 효과적으로 경쟁할 수 있는 시장에 역량을 집중하고 있다"며 "한국 시장에서의 변화(철수)는 이런 계획을 반영한 것"이라고 설명했다.

모토로라는 그러나 한국에서 판매된 모바일 기기에 대한 품질 보증 지원과 고객 서비스는 계속 제공할 예정이라고 덧붙였다.

모토로라는 한국에 있는 R&D 인력 중 약 10%에게는 다른 지역에서 근무할 기회를 제공하겠다고 밝혔지만, 이에 해당하는 인원은 많지 않은 것으로 알려졌다.

다만 기업영업(B2B)을 하던 홈 사업부와 아이덴 영업 조직은 계속 운영될 예정이다.

앞서 대만의 스마트폰 제조사 HTC도 지난 7월 국내 시장에서 철수한 바 있다. (연합뉴스)