Motorola to stop Singapore mobile phone production

The Motorola MOTORIZR Z6tv is displayed during the Digital Experience event at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada January 6, 2008. Motorola said on Wednesday it will stop making mobile phones in Singapore by the end of the year, a move that will result in the loss of 700 jobs.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Motorola Inc MOT.N said on Wednesday it will stop making mobile phones in Singapore by the end of the year, a move that will result in the loss of 700 jobs.

The decision follows "a strategic review of business operations, which includes a previously announced global $500 million cost-reduction initiative," a Motorola spokeswoman told Reuters.

The U.S. firm will continue to base its headquarters for Asia-Pacific in Singapore where it also has units engaged in research and software development, the company said in an email sent in response to Reuters' queries.

"Approximately 700 Singapore-based, permanent Motorola employees will be impacted," the spokeswoman said.

Motorola had said last week that it would split into two publicly traded entities in 2009 to separate its money-losing handset division from the rest of the business which makes devices including television set top boxes and network equipment.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim and Jennifer Tan; Editing By Ovais Subhani)