Nokia (NYSE:NOK) said it will cut 4,000 jobs at three factories in Komarom, Hungary; Reynosa, Mexico; and Salo, Finland as part of the device maker's efforts to streamline its production of smartphones. The job cuts will occur by year-end.
Specifically, Nokia said it will cut 2,300 jobs at its Hungarian factory, 700 jobs at its Mexican factory and 1,000 jobs at its Finland factory. These three factories will focus on smartphone product customization for customers primarily in Europe and the Americas. Meanwhile device assembly will be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where most of the company's component suppliers are based.
"Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market," said Niklas Savander, Nokia's executive vice president of markets. "By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations in the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive."
The job cuts come as Nokia is attempting to transition away from its Symbian-based smartphone portfolio to Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone operating system.
The Finnish vendor has been struggling financially during this transition and in the fourth quarter reported a net loss of $1.4 billion in the quarter, down from a profit of $979 million in the year-ago period.
This isn't the first wave of job cuts for Nokia. In September, the company said it would cut 3,500 jobs as part of its reorganization. In addition, the company transferred its Symbian software activities as well as about 2,300 employees to global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing firm Accenture. Per terms of the agreement, Accenture will provide Symbian-based software development and support services for present and future Nokia smartphones, and will also supply Windows Phone-based mobility software, business and operational services to Nokia and other ecosystem participants.
For more:
- see this release
- see this New York Times article
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