Warning about a fourth quarter loss and weaker-than-expected phone sales, Motorola has announced that it would cut a further 4,000 jobs this year - which will be nearly 6% of its total workforce - in addition to the 3,000 job-cuts it announced last October. Moreover, in December, Motorola had also announced a plan to freeze pension plans and trim down executive pay.

The company said the new job cuts would include nearly 3,000 positions in the mobile-devices business and 1,000 from corporate functions and other business units.

After having resorted to the announced the additional staff reduction, Motorola expects to save about $700 million in 2009; and a yearly $1.5 billion thereafter.

According to company estimates, its fourth-quarter net loss per share would be 7 cents to 8 cents, which also includes the unusual charges of 6 cents a share. The loss may even be wider as the company is still considering items like impairment testing and income taxes.

With the company already having lost a considerable part of its market share to rivals like Nokia, the ongoing economic downturn and a slump in demand for mobile phones appears to have added to the company's previously existing problems.

Matthew Thornton, an Avian Securities analyst, said extensive weakness in demand had been amalgamated by Motorola's weak products. He added: "I'm sure they're faring a bit worse than some of the other tier-one manufacturers. It's not going to get any easier in the next couple of quarters."