Dogged by delays to the shipment of its latest N8 flagship model which was finally revealed to the Australian media this week, and despite posting surprise net profits in its latest Q3 results, Nokia’s new chief, Stephen Elop, has announced that the company is to shed 1,800 jobs and re-think its place in the market.
The company made the announcement as it reported a 5 percent increase in net sales year on year, of which handset sales accounted for 110 million units worldwide, up 2 percent from last year.
The company’s new non-Finn boss, Stephen Elop, who has only been with the company for five weeks, said: “Our company faces a remarkably disruptive time in the industry, with recent results demonstrating that we must reassess our role in, and our approach to, this industry.”
The company is facing tough competition from the likes of Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry and smartphones using Google’s Android operating system. However, sales of Nokia’s smartphones, which proved to be the fastest-growing section of the market, grew by 61 percent from a year ago to 26.5 million units.
It’s new N8 model, which is due to hit Australian retail shelves next month, uses what some analysts have said to be an out-dated operating system, Symbian, which was recently dropped by Samsung and Sony Erikson.
