Google To Lay Off 1,200 at Motorola: Report

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Google (GOOG) is reportedly about to pull the trigger on another round of layoffs at its Motorola Mobility unit.

According to an internal e-mail message seen by the Wall Street Journal, the company is planning to cut as many as 1,200 jobs - or more than 10% of its Motorola workforce.

Many of those cuts will reportedly come from overseas operations in India and China, as well as staff reduction here in the United States. These new reductions are similar in number and scope to the earlier round of layoffs Google instituted after acquiring Motorola, last summer.

"Our costs are too high, we're operating in markets where we're not competitive, and we're losing money," is one quote contained in the message sent out earlier in the week. The note goes on to admit, "while we're very optimistic about the new products in our pipeline, we still face challenges."

We have not seen any new products from Motorola since the Google acquisition. As for product timing, a normal design/testing/construction cycle of modern-day smartphones, on average, lasts about a year-and-a half before consumers are offered the new devices.

We could see new Google-inspired Motorola Android phones by this year's holiday shopping season. Or maybe sooner.

--Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

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Gary Krakow is TheStreet's senior technology correspondent.