Motorla in Crisis = No G5

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I am not an insider. This is not confirmed.



With much amusement, I've read the various 'confirmed' iMac and Power Mac predictions/reports. There's a very simple reason why there won't be a G5 this month or next month or anytime soon.



Simply, when a company is in crisis and there is talk of layoffs, the employees most likely to be cut simply aren't working. They're more worried about their future and their families.



The people making the PowerPC are simply too worried about the future and are probably more preoccupied by sending CVs and talking to head-hunters than they are about a project that might not even be around in a month.



Just a thought.



na

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    Could be, but I really don't think so.
  • Reply 2 of 20
    If they wanted to keep their jobs they would be very concerned with the G5. Otherwise they will get fired. During bad times only the best keep their jobs. The best don't worry about whether they will keep their jobs becasue they know they are the best.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by M5884:

    <strong>If they wanted to keep their jobs they would be very concerned with the G5. Otherwise they will get fired. During bad times only the best keep their jobs. The best don't worry about whether they will keep their jobs becasue they know they are the best.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Actually, the best, if they are smart, are usually the first to recognize a bad situation and high-tail it out of Dodge. That is, if it really is dire, then they're already gone.



    Of course, with Motorola having laid off half the population of Texas in the last year, there can't be too many left, could there?
  • Reply 4 of 20
    tjmtjm Posts: 367member
    Another consideration is that Motorola makes nearly 200 different kinds of microprocessors (I counted 179 in a supplier catalog). While they have taken a meat-axe to the semiconductor division, we don't really know where all those cuts were. If they were focussed on their older lines, it's possible that G5 development was completely unaffected by the layoffs.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by TJM:

    <strong>Another consideration is that Motorola makes nearly 200 different kinds of microprocessors (I counted 179 in a supplier catalog). While they have taken a meat-axe to the semiconductor division, we don't really know where all those cuts were. If they were focussed on their older lines, it's possible that G5 development was completely unaffected by the layoffs.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    In that vein, if the G5 is even close to as rumoured then it will be the crown jewel of Motorola's performance lineup and they will either want to keep it healthy so it can make them money, or they want to keep it healthy so that they can sell it for a lot of money. If its not close to what is rumoured then it really doesn't matter if they cut it, does it?
  • Reply 6 of 20
    [quote]Originally posted by M5884:

    <strong>If they wanted to keep their jobs they would be very concerned with the G5. Otherwise they will get fired. During bad times only the best keep their jobs. The best don't worry about whether they will keep their jobs becasue they know they are the best.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Although this has nothin to do with Motorola, your statement is false.



    During bad times, the inexpensive keep their jobs.



    Those who are older with more experience tend to get the ax while younger, less expensive replacements move up from lesser jobs. This is not the case with the Top Level executives. But everyone below, it is.



    They look for the cheapest way to get the job done.



    That means those who are older and have been in the business a while, but are not top level, are cut. And find it very hard to be rehired, because all companies are doing the exact same thing.



    Andrew
  • Reply 7 of 20
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    So Moto is in bad times and they should cut their money makers?



    So if McDonalds was is trouble and had to lay people off, should they stop selling hambugers?
  • Reply 8 of 20
    I'm not sure how much this would effect Apple, since they employ their own semiconductor engineers involved in the CPU design process, and Moto is under contract to cough up the goods. I'm sure it would have some effect, but the question is how much...
  • Reply 9 of 20
    xypexype Posts: 672member
    [quote]Originally posted by nagha:

    <strong>I am not an insider. This is not confirmed.

    Simply, when a company is in crisis and there is talk of layoffs, the employees most likely to be cut simply aren't working. They're more worried about their future and their families.



    Just a thought.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    If I were worried about the future of my family I'd rather work even harder to keep my job than do nothing and give Mot a reason to fire me.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Anyone who affects the development of G5 design and prototype manufacturing process will have a special contract that doesn't exactly allow them to jump ship. **at least not easily** the brain trust that would affect design and development is guarded almost as jealously as a patent or trade secret. They can't just quit to move elsewhere, and they can't just be dismissed without for both financial and strategic reasons.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    [quote]Originally posted by Programmer:

    <strong>



    In that vein, if the G5 is even close to as rumoured then it will be the crown jewel of Motorola's performance lineup and they will either want to keep it healthy so it can make them money, or they want to keep it healthy so that they can sell it for a lot of money. If its not close to what is rumoured then it really doesn't matter if they cut it, does it?</strong><hr></blockquote>

    yes selling high end chips brings much more money than selling basic chips. Motorola will be a fool to stop a chip that is under developpement for a long time and that is in final developpement.

    If there is crisis it will concern the G6.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    [quote]Originally posted by amidala:

    <strong>



    Although this has nothin to do with Motorola, your statement is false.



    During bad times, the inexpensive keep their jobs.



    Those who are older with more experience tend to get the ax while younger, less expensive replacements move up from lesser jobs. This is not the case with the Top Level executives. But everyone below, it is.



    They look for the cheapest way to get the job done.



    That means those who are older and have been in the business a while, but are not top level, are cut. And find it very hard to be rehired, because all companies are doing the exact same thing.



    Andrew</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That depends on what you mean by "expensive". That doesn't really mean "high salary". My brother works for a chip company (not MOT, but fairly high profile anyway). He tells me that in the semiconductor industry, what goes first is the Union side of things (read: manufacturing). Then, they go to Human Resources and Marketing. Then, they hit engineers/management. It is not always "last hired first fired" or "you make alotta dough.....umm..buh bye". Often it is the non-productive folks who go. They need good people.



    MOT will be OK. They are not in the shape Lucent is or anything....and even THEY may still make it yet. We are talking about companies that were INCREDIBLY run, and tanked anyway, not the likes of a "we have eight different sets of books" Enron.



    The problem was/is the Fabs. Then, it seems management lied to Apple about what they could deliver. This =big mistake. If Apple has gotten involved and someone like, say, AMD is helping to fab the chips, we could see better clockspeed numbers very soon.



    [ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: SDW2001 ]</p>
  • Reply 13 of 20
    wwworkwwwork Posts: 140member
    M5884 clearly has never worked for a large corporation. If they aren't axing a whole department the people they will keep are the ones who work the longest hours (for the same salary = cheapest/most foolish) and the ones who kiss ass the most.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    g-newsg-news Posts: 1,107member
    Why is everyone so upset about Motorola having laid off another few 1000 people during the past months?

    They've been laying off 10'000s of people worldwide during the last 2 years, and nobody ever uttered concerns for the PPC platform before, why is everyon so upset now? There's as little reason to be upset as there was one or two years ago.



    G-News
  • Reply 15 of 20
    blablablabla Posts: 185member
    G-News: Short term memory?



    I have been complaining about the state of the PPC since early 99. We "all" knew the G3 ruled around 97-98 because of smaller process + copper. We knew Intel would move to 0.18 before Motorola/IBM. And some of us even knew the small speed-advantage of the PPC would be lost as soon as Intel moved to better manufacturing techniques.. Imagine when Intel moves to copper? SOI??.. Intel managed to pull of a 1.8-2 Ghz CPU using a freaking non-copper 0.18 process. Even the PIII have scaled to 1.3 Ghz or so on the same process.



    I was around here in 99 under a different nick. Too bad all those threads are lost now.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    I doubt apple would have just introduced the imac with the g4 if there was any indication that it wouldn't be supplied. These people are not idiots. Apple would be aware of any potential major problems with motorola. Apple is very aware of what is going on with motorola, and if you think they are going to get blindswiped by loss of the powerpc, you are gravely mistaken. Motorola is a major company that simply got too big during the boom. They need to downsize, but that by no means entails cutting the things that have assured deals. The plans made by these companies account for the details in the years ahead. Large companies do not just up and fail with no warning. Enron is very much the exception in that a lot of the public didn't see it coming and that was their own fault. The imac is not going to switch off the g4 for a very long time, and as such someone will have to keep it going faster and faster. That someone is and will continue to be motorola. Apple has accounted for their problems and obviously knows that they can count on motorola. If they couldn't, they would have switched chips rather than bet the company on a failing partner.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    wwworkwwwork Posts: 140member
    [quote]Originally posted by giant:

    <strong>Large companies do not just up and fail with no warning. Enron is very much the exception in that a lot of the public didn't see it coming and that was their own fault.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    How could the public see the collapse of Enron coming when Enron:

    1) Persuaded Senator Phil Graham to pass accounting rules favorable to hiding information (his wife worked for Enron).

    2) Hid all company losses in Subsidiaries, mostly foreign owned. (this method also allowed them to avoid paying ANY taxes between 1996-2000. They, in fact, recieved something like $235 million in REFUNDS.)

    3) Chairman Lay was sending e-mails to his employees telling them how great Enron's condition was the day AFTER Lay sold $200 million in Enron stock.



    The whole company was a sham that escaped notice by paying off congress and the executive branch.



    The only way it is the publics fault is that the public is not more insistent on getting campaign finance reform. Kenneth Lay should be in jail.



    watch out. GE is next.



    [ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: wwwork ]</p>
  • Reply 18 of 20
    I'd say the reason there won't be a g5 is that moto has 12 people on their ppc development team.



    Of them 13 are janitors.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Design=Motorola



    Fab=IBM
  • Reply 20 of 20
    philbotphilbot Posts: 240member
    IBM could be your new Big Brother...
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