World’s largest mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj will axe 1,800 jobs worldwide as the company embarks on streamlining its smartphones business.
The move comes at a time when the Finnish major’s new Chief Executive Stephen Elop is exploring ways to bolster its market share, especially in the smartphones segment, which has been hit by severe competition from rivals such as Apple.
Nokia, which has significant presence in India, on Thursday said it plans to simplify its Symbian Smartphones business as well as services organisation and certain corporate functions.
“The plans are expected to result in a reduction of up to 1,800 employees globally,” the firm said in a statement.
The company also announced a profit of 322 million euros for the September quarter. In the comparable period, it had a loss of 913 million euros.
Once a market leader, Nokia’s Symbian smartphones’ sales have been severely dented by offerings from rivals such as Apple, Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and HTC.
In Symbian smartphones segment, Nokia would look to renew product creation and reduce the time taken for the same to reach the market.
“This includes expanding the use of common tools for application development, streamlining software development, simplifying and consolidating operations and placing greater focus on adding value to consumers,” the statement noted.
Further, the cell phone maker would effect changes in its services organisation, mainly aimed at providing “more compelling Ovi services to consumers”. “In line with these changes, Nokia is also streamlining certain corporate functions and corporate research activities,” the statement said.
Nokia’s Executive Vice President (Human Resources) Juha Akras said the decision to cut jobs is the result of careful evaluation and planning. “The plans have now been reviewed and endorsed by the new management... we are simplifying and integrating operations within our product creation and corporate functions,” Akras added.
