We knew the shoe would drop for mobile ads somewhere… and soon. Today, we learned that Nokia plans to cut half of its entire mobile advertising sales division, which is a significant slash that will affect more than twenty-five jobs only ten months after Nokia launched its mobile ad network division at 2008’s Mobile World Congress.
Although the news looks grim for mobile marketing, we have to bear in mind that the recession is hurting the entire ad industry, not just in the mobile industry. With a different newspaper going under almost ever day, it’s positive (one could argue) that the ad dollars lost in print will eventually transition to the mobile sector.
Of course, that will take some time, as illustrated by the decision from Nokia.
For now, a Nokia spokesman said that Nokia would be “focusing on core needs.” The job cuts follow the handset giant’s decision to lay off 320 R&D workers in Finland, and lay off other workers there on a rotational basis. Although none of the job cuts are as massive as those of Motorola, it remains a significant sign that Nokia is feeling the pinch from dropping sales.
