Moto Layoffs...(sigh)
(From macnn.com 
"NewsFactor profiles the state of Motorola, Apple's manufacturer of PowerPC processors which has announced plans to cut more than 9,400 jobs and close some facilities. Unfortunately, Motorola said its semiconductor products sector (which produces PowerPC chips) will be most "
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All I have to say is I hope IBM and Apple can remove the "weakest links" and continue to make killer chips. Who knows what will happen. Maybe it will be told at MWSF02.
"Such conjecture is futile", I know, but here are some things to think about:
1) Maybe OS X will run on (tweaked) x86 chipsets. Heck, Darwin already compiles for Intel boards. These would be special mobo's with propritary ROMS, etc, therefore Gateway won't be making cheap Macs with cow-print cases, or licensing the Mac OS (duh).
2) AMD will get onboard and make PPC RISC chips. A major player or perhaps just a out-sourced fab plant? We have all heard rumors about AMD for a long time. We have one thing in common: a loathing to smash Intel.
3) Apple/IBM will buy the PPC assets and continue as planned.
"NewsFactor profiles the state of Motorola, Apple's manufacturer of PowerPC processors which has announced plans to cut more than 9,400 jobs and close some facilities. Unfortunately, Motorola said its semiconductor products sector (which produces PowerPC chips) will be most "
------------------------------------------------------------
All I have to say is I hope IBM and Apple can remove the "weakest links" and continue to make killer chips. Who knows what will happen. Maybe it will be told at MWSF02.
"Such conjecture is futile", I know, but here are some things to think about:
1) Maybe OS X will run on (tweaked) x86 chipsets. Heck, Darwin already compiles for Intel boards. These would be special mobo's with propritary ROMS, etc, therefore Gateway won't be making cheap Macs with cow-print cases, or licensing the Mac OS (duh).
2) AMD will get onboard and make PPC RISC chips. A major player or perhaps just a out-sourced fab plant? We have all heard rumors about AMD for a long time. We have one thing in common: a loathing to smash Intel.
3) Apple/IBM will buy the PPC assets and continue as planned.
Comments
Motorola
at a lower cost?The CEO of Sony said the electronic industry will suffer harshley in the
beginning of 2003.So the cellular division of Motorola will be its main focus.To sell in volume.
Produce the technology in China like Disney does with its toys.Too many indians and not enough
Chiefs?Motorola cant compete in cpu sales.Not enough volume.Gateway is slowly going out of business.People want cheap computers.Almost
disposable.In one year they are out-dated.But
smarter software is on the way.That is where the
break-through technology will come from in the coming years.The CPU war is narrowing.Heavy automation and down sizing of major corporations.
The recestion has hurt alot of people.
If Apple bought this division from Moto, then they could control their future much better. And Steve Jobs could go in and start bustin' ass! I bet there are many employees at Moto's semiconductor division who would get "Steved" if they worked for Apple!
EDIT: I just want to add, it is never a "good thing" in any way when people get laid off. I feel for all those people who got shafted by Moto, and hope they find new jobs quickly and easily. My post only is intended to analyze how these layoffs would affect Apple.
[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Junkyard Dawg ]</p>
We're not tied at the hip to Motorola, I wish people would realize that and stop impying the contrary with these doomsday scenarios. If Motorola goes down, they go down alone. And good riddance if you ask me. IBM is a much healthier company (in more ways than just cash flow) and are equally capable of producing cutting-edge processors and more capable of delivering them in quantity when needed.
That said, I do feel bad for MOT's long-time employees. There is no allegiance at all to these people from upper mgmt. Some of the most politically motivated and selfish managers I've ever had the displeasure of knowing worked at MOT. I hope the "good guys" can find new work soon. Sucks to be layed off, especially this time of year. Can be really hard on a family.
[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Moogs ? ]</p>
[ 12-25-2001: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
They've gone from being a positive example in collegiate business texts in the mid-90's, to being an example of how *not* to run a company. At least, if I were on the editorial staff of a collegiate business text book right now, that's how I'd look at it.
[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Moogs ? ]</p>
Apple has mindshare in the PowerPC. Many consumers do understand that the PowerPC is a faster processor family, and Mac users regard that as fundamental truth. If Apple were to move over to x86, there basically would be no fundamental advantage to Macintosh hardware, not even any really unique characteristic. Apple has been pounding away for years that x86 is slow and backward - how it would look if suddenly the company did a 180 and started supporting Intel or AMD? That's a preposterous scenario.
And even if you believe that Apple could change over to x86 without devastating PR implications, it doesn't change the fact that OS X does not run on x86. Yes, OpenStep ran on x86, and yes, Darwin may easily run on x86. Yet, OpenStep is not OS X, and Darwin isn't either. Perhaps Cocoa applications could come over after some porting work, but no one can deny that a lot of the OS is now dependent on the PowerPC. Apple clearly shelved OS X - x86 during Rhapsody's development. Moreover, Carbon will not port over to x86. We have enough trouble with Carbon apps running reliably on the Mac as it is, so who could claim with a straight face that the environment could easily go over to x86? And what third party developer would want to develop simultaneously for three minority platforms: OS 9, OS X - PPC, and OS X - x86. The answer is not one. And if Apple were to move to x86, how would all of us PPC owners feel? Obviously, it would seriously depreciate our investment - Apple can?t afford to deal such a horrible blow to its most faithful customers.
Motorola's ills probably are impacting the PPC, and Apple must do everything it can to ensure that the Macintosh platform isn't undermined. It's fun to speculate on what Apple can do, but one shouldn't waste time with the implausible.
[ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Big Mac ]</p>
<strong>Maybe this is irrelevent, but how many people worked at Motorola before the dot-com craze?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I'm sure I read in one of the Sunday papers this weekend that until 18 months ago Motorola employed 152,000 staff globally, and this has now dropped to something like 103,000.
I live in an area that until recently had three Moto plants within 25 miles. The one nearest to me, a mobile phone production facility, was closed a few months ago with the loss of 3100 jobs. There is a Motorola chip-fab plant about 10 miles away that employs something like another 1000 staff. These people are in a very uncertain position just now with Motos announcement of 9000+ losses.
Oh and add to that the fact that NEC have just announced the complete closure of its chip-fab plant in the town where I live, with the loss of 1260 posts (not counting the 600 losses in September) it makes for a somewhat depresses Christmas round here - everyone knows someone affected by Moto and NEC's closures
One of the great things about IBM is that it is a very steady company...no huge leaps, and consequently no huge fallouts.
[ 12-25-2001: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
I wonder what Motorola needs $2 billion for?