Helsinki: World-leading mobile phone maker Nokia will cut 4,000 jobs at its smartphone manufacturing facilities in Finland, Hungary and Mexico by the end of 2012, it said yesterday.
"The expected headcount impact by country is 2,300 in Komarom (Hungary), 700 in Reynosa (Mexico) and 1,000 in Salo (Finland)," company spokesman James Etheridge told AFP.
The job cuts follow a review of smartphone operations announced in September 2011, when the company warned jobs may be cut at the plants in question.
The factories in Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will in the future focus on software-heavy smartphone customisation, while manufacturing will shift to Asia to shorten the time it takes for products to get to market, the company said in a statement.
"But these planned changes are all about speed and responsiveness and ultimately, our competitiveness," Etheridge said.
New model struggles
The job cuts come as Nokia struggles to secure a foothold in the fiercely competitive smartphone market, with its newly-launched flagship line Lumia failing to correct falling sales in its smartphone business.
Nokia's comeback fight comes amid a dynamic and differentiated market, with many players offering consumers a variety of options, Horace Dedieu of the Helsinki-based mobile industry blog Asymco said. "My initial impression is that it's a good product, but, right now, being good isn't enough," Dedieu told Finnish state broadcaster YLE about the Lumia.
In its 2011 full-year earnings report released two weeks ago, Nokia said it had sold "well over one million" Lumia phones since their launch in October in Europe, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
However, others have noted that while the Lumia has received good grades from users, not enough are buying the new smartphone. The phone's fledgling reputation has also already been tainted by reports of returns due to battery life problems.
