Nokia to cut 600 jobs in marketing, sales and R&D: Handset maker releases new, low-cost phones

Nokia Corp. said today that it would cut as many as 615 jobs in an ongoing corporate reorganization.
The bulk, 450 jobs, will be eliminated in the global handset leader’s markets unit to “strengthen the customer interface” and “ensure that resources are well allocated,” according to the company.
Streamlining of the company’s Nokia Research Center will claim another 130 jobs. And 35 jobs will be cut in Nokia’s “global process operations,” the company said.
The company’s Turku, Finland, office will be closed and about 220 employees will relocate to other sites, Nokia said.
Nokia called the cuts part of its “constant renewal” and at least one analyst said that the news was in line with the company’s previous statements on its direction.
While macroeconomic conditions might have influenced the timing or number of today’s job cuts, Nokia announced its latest reorganization more than a year ago, when earnings and outlook were strong, said analyst Tero Kuittinen at Global Crown Capital L.L.C. Nokia has said it would streamline its marketing efforts with more global initiatives and fewer regional ones, Kuittinen added. And the job cuts in R&D reflected that the company has had some overlap and fragmentation in that area, the analyst said, and needed more focus on software development.
About 235 of the 615 job cuts will take place in Finland and would be completed by year’s end. The closure of Nokia’s Turku site will be completed by the end of January.
At last count Nokia had 123,006 full-time employees.
Nokia’s personnel news coincided with its announcement that it would step up efforts to bring low-cost devices and Internet access to emerging markets, where growth outpaces sluggish sales in mature markets.
New devices, some to ship this year, will range in price from $32 – the vendor’s lowest-cost handset yet – to $117.
New services include Mail on Ovi for the company’s Series 40 devices, planned for a global rollout by year’s end. And Nokia Life Tools will offer “a range of innovative agricultural information and education services” designed for rural and small communities in emerging markets and will launch early in 2009, first in India, then markets in Asia and Africa.