Nokia to cut 10 000 more jobs

Added by Editor on 14 June 2012.
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Stephen Elop

Struggling Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia will slash an additional 10 000 jobs, on top of 14 000 job losses in 2011, as it struggles to make headway against Samsung and Apple in the smartphone market.

The company, headed by Canadian national Stephen Elop, says it aims to achieve a further reduction in costs of US$2bn, on top of the earlier $1bn it said it needed to cut by the end of next year.

Nokia says the latest round of job cuts and cost cutting are aimed at “sharpening its strategy, improving its operating model and returning the company to profitable growth”.

“We are increasing our focus on the products and services that our consumers value most while continuing to invest in the innovation that has always defined Nokia,” says Elop in a statement.

“We intend to pursue an even more focused effort on [Windows Phone-powered] Lumia [devices], continued innovation around our feature phones, while placing increased emphasis on our location-based services. However, we must reshape our operating model and ensure that we create a structure that can support our competitive ambitions.”

Nokia says it will reduce research and development projects, resulting in the closure of its facilities in Ulm, Germany, and Burnaby, Canada. It will also consolidate manufacturing operations, resulting in the closure of a manufacturing facility in Salo, Finland.

The company says it wants to complete the latest round of job cuts by the end of 2013.

“These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” says Elop.

At the same time, the company has concluded plans to sell its luxury phone unit, Vertu, to EQT VI, a European private equity firm. It has also shaken up its top management team, with Juha Putkiranta named as executive vice-president of operations; Timo Toikkanen as executive vice-president of mobile phones; Chris Weber as executive vice-president of sales and marketing; Tuula Rytila as senior vice-president of marketing and chief marketing officer; and Susan Sheehan as senior vice-president of communications.  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media

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  • Teklemon

    They have not got a clue of their problems or have they?
    Look the time gap between announcing Samsung Galaxy S3 and getting it with 2 operators in SA. It was hardly a month’s delay.
    And look at Lumia 900, announced long before S3, havent reached SA yet, and when they ship, here will be 10 phones from Nokia’s competitors thats more latest than Lumia 900.
    Fix your distribution channels and production Mr Elop.
    The products need to reach the market before they lose its relevance.

  • John Mitchell

    Yeah, it sounds like this oak is on another planet all together. 
    I’m expecting Nokia and RIM to get swallowed soon at this rate.If this was me, I’d hire the DarkyROM and Cyanogen team and get them to work on an Android release for the Lumia right away. I’d get into bed with Google big time. Nokia and RIM need to do this to survive, I see no other way.

    It’s that or you DIE!  

  • Greg Mahlknecht

    Elop’s addressed why he didn’t go Android on many occasions, and I think it’s probably for the best.  The problem isn’t that the Lumia phones aren’t selling – Nokia can’t make them fast enough – the problem is that the symbian side of the business is dying, and they’re so reliant on it. 

    Before the end of the year, Nokia will have launched a low-end WP7(8?) phone, and probably their 41mp monster cameraphone, which could be a gamechanger – the first phone that can actually replace a good compact camera – something people have been talking abuot since the first phone came out.   So they will have something that competes at all the smartphone pricepoints.

    I think Nokia will be okay – they’ll come out the other side a lot smaller, but still a strong player, it’s just that with Symbian declining faster than anyone had expected, it’s a rough ride.

  • ps246

    this ain’t nothing but the prelude to turning the lights off, locking the door and listening to an overweight woman with a horned helmet warbling away on stage. It’s over for Nokia.

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