Nokia is definitely “connecting people”… with the unemployment line.
As Mobile Marketing Watch reported earlier today, mobile phone giant Nokia tried to put its best face forward Thursday by announcing the acquisition of Sweden-based Scalado.
The purchase will supposedly help strengthen Nokia’s imaging assets.
But taking the good news with the bad news, Nokia also confirmed plans to cut 10,000 jobs from its global workforce next year. Nokia says the cost-cutting measures are unavoidable consequences of tough times inside the mobile tech empire.
“These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said Thursday. “We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities.”
“We are increasing our focus on the products and services that our consumers value most while continuing to invest in the innovation that has always defined Nokia,” Elop added. “We intend to pursue an even more focused effort on Lumia, continued innovation around our feature phones, while placing increased emphasis on our location-based services. However, we must re-shape our operating model and ensure that we create a structure that can support our competitive ambitions.”
So just how precarious is the financial stability of Nokia? For now, the company will only say that the turnaround will take time and that the next quarter may be even uglier than the last.
