Openwave Systems to cut 180 jobs
The wireless browser maker plans to reduce its work force by 12 percent in an effort to shave $10 million from its quarterly expenses.
The restructuring is expected to take place before Sept. 30, a company representative said, and will shave $10 million from Openwave's quarterly spending. The layoffs will help the company reach a break-even point when factoring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of assets, according to Openwave.
Some of the cutbacks will come from an Openwave "project" that's drawing in $5 million in revenue each quarter, a company representative said.
"The majority of the development and porting for this project is complete, and the focus is now on sales and marketing," according to an Openwave statement. The company would not release further details about the project.
Openwave's financial health is a fairly good indicator of the cell phone industry's general stability because its browser powers many of the wireless e-mail or Web-browsing services sold by U.S. cell phone providers. Wireless carriers have been buckling under a three-year slowdown in handset sales.
This is the second major round of layoffs in less than a year at Openwave. In September, the company said it would eliminate a quarter of its work force, which then totaled about 1,900.