Struggling phone company Nokia, who is now looking to pick up market share in third world Countries, is set to slash 4,000 jobs.After failing to grow their business in developed Countries, Nokia, who is banking on the new Windows 8 mobile offering to turn the companies fortunes around, said the cuts will take place at various manufacturing plants in Hungary, Mexico and Finland. Assembly they claim will be moved closer to component suppliers in Asia in an attempt to get its products to the market more quickly.
“By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia’s executive vice president, markets.
“It’s really about speed, responsiveness and improving our time to market,” said Nokia spokesman James Etheridge. “It’s important to ensure that software customization happens close to the customers, certainly in Europe and Eurasia, which is the focus of Salo and Komarom.”
The Wall Street Journal said that Nokia has so far announced plans to shed around 14,000 jobs since last February’s decision to adopt Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone operating system in all its new smartphones and phase out its aging Symbian platform. It believes the move will help it regain market share after struggling to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPhone and smartphones using Google Inc.’s Android software.
