Nokia to cut an extra 330 jobs in R&D
updated 10:00 am EST, Fri November 20, 2009
Nokia cuts 2 percent of research force
Nokia on Friday said it would cut 330 jobs in its research and development group. The reductions are spread between an office in Oulu, in Nokia's native Finland, as well as in Copenhagen. Nokia isn't specific as to the nature of the layoffs and says only that they're meant to reflect the company's "focused portfolio of future products."
Despite the cuts, Nokia downplays the move and notes that those let go represent just under 2 percent of its entire research team, which numbers about 17,000 workers. These may also have a chance at other positions inside the cellphone maker.
The reductions bring Nokia's total job cuts to over 2,300 following over 1,700 jobs lost earlier this year. It has often explained these as necessary due to the economy but is partly mirroring its own struggle to compete. It has lost smartphone market share and is generating less profit than Apple despite selling roughly ten times or more phones each quarter. Most of Nokia's cellphone sales now skew towards inexpensive devices and are rarely as profitable as the iPhone.
r&d department
11/20, 10:28am reply
Now it's not just Microsoft--now cell phone companies will use Apple as there research and development department!
addisonx
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2002
Symbian is dead
11/20, 10:39am reply
Long live Maemo!
(the phone pictured looks suspiciously like the one I'm returning today as it's a wretched POS.) Nokia makes WAY too many phones that are WAY too similar - they've become the General Motors of the cellphone world (I think that makes Moto=Chrysler but I digress)
They push phones out the door so fast they don't have time for adequate QC and end up having to lower the price and rebate (unlocked) or try and entice carriers for subsidized handsets (not working too well here in the US) They need to simplify the product lineup:
Emerging markets
Value conscious consumers
High end
perhaps with teens and older adults in there somewhere with specific age related features
but the lineup they have of devices is just freaking ridiculous.
SergioRS
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2004
intelligent move
11/20, 11:17am reply
to sack people from the R&D dept and at the same time claim they R lookin at the future. Now they need innovation > ever! Seems they're goin down.
igroucho
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2005
Sacking R&D ...
11/21, 03:29am reply
And Nokia, much like Motorola of the 90's, has many layers of useless, crusty, brain-dead "managers" and "team-leaders", who're just hanging on to their jobs with both fists. In fact they make the recommendations on who to fire !!!
Nokia is notorious for their very complex hierarchy and numerous over-lapping internal divisions. They're too big, too spread-out, too slow, etc. They need a Steve Jobs or similar to save them (cut the fat).
shawnde
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2008