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Fox Mobile lays off staff as News Corp. looks for an exit

New Corp. is reportedly laying off staff almost three months after it first confirmed plans to sell its mobile business all together. Fox Mobile is cutting around 75 employees, of 15% of its staff in Germany, and making cuts in other markets as well, according to mocoNews.
The layoffs are expected to hit across the board, but senior management will be spared. News Corp. first got into the mobile space in 2006 with a 51% purchase of Jamba, a Berlin-based ringtone outfit. Two years later, it bought the remaining interest in the company from VeriSign Inc. to form Fox Mobile Group.
The exact impact the mobile business is having on the company is tough to quantify since it lumps it together in an “other” category that includes its outdoor business and MySpace. But both MySpace and Fox Mobile Group appear to be on the auction block now as News Corp. most likely pursues a fresh start in digital and mobile space from within, rather than via acquisition.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Matt Kapko
Matt Kapko
Former Feature writer for RCR Wireless NewsCurrently writing for CIOhttp://www.CIO.com/ Matt Kapko specializes in the convergence of social media, mobility, digital marketing and technology. As a senior writer at CIO.com, Matt covers social media and enterprise collaboration. Matt is a former editor and reporter for ClickZ, RCR Wireless News, paidContent and mocoNews, iMedia Connection, Bay City News Service, the Half Moon Bay Review, and several other Web and print publications. Matt lives in a nearly century-old craftsman in Long Beach, Calif. He enjoys traveling and hitting the road with his wife, going to shows, rooting for the 49ers, gardening and reading.