Wireless Web software maker Openwave Systems Inc. on Thursday confirmed that the company will lay off at least 300 workers this week. The total number of employees will go from “2,300 to less than 2,000 by the end of the year,” according to company spokeswoman Michele Landry. She declined to say where those cuts would be coming from — only that they would be made across the board.
At the end of October the Redwood City, Calif. company had announced plans to reduce operating expenses by $20 million in the next quarter. The layoffs are a part of that reduction plan, Landry said.
Openwave is best-known for its wireless Web browser, but has been trying to branch out into the wireless messaging space. Most recently, at Fall Comdex in early November, the company announced a mobile instant messaging platform.
The company was formed in the summer of 2000 when wireless browser company Phone.com bought messaging software company Software.com for $6.5 billion. The company officially became Openwave in November 2000. Former Cisco Systems Inc. executive Don Listwin is Openwaves CEO.