Retail News CRM

Tag: nokia

  • Nokia could cut up to 15,000 jobs

    Nokia could cut up to 15,000 jobs

    Nokia could cut as many as 15,000 jobs worldwide as part of the cost-cutting program associated with its merger with Alcatel-Lucent, union officials estimate.

    A Nokia union steward as stating that based on the information received so far, the union estimates that the job cuts are likely to be around 10,000 to 15,000 jobs.

    This would represent as much as 14% of Nokia’s current global workforce of 104,000.

    So far Nokia has revealed plans to cut around 1,000 jobs in its home market of Finland, 1,400 positions in Germany and 400 in France. But Nokia has also agreed to create 500 R&D jobs in France as part of its compromise to win French government support for the Alcatel-Lucent takeover.

    A Nokia spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the figure to Reuters or give any updates on its negotiations with employee representatives. The company is conducting these negotiations in around 30 countries.

    The cost cutting program has the aim of cutting operating costs by around €900 million ($1 billion) by 2018 by reducing the overlaps between Nokia and the former Alcatel-Lucent.

    The program is also aimed at responding to the ongoing slowdown in the network infrastructure market. Nokia is forecasting a decline in network sales for the current financial year.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Company founded to revive Nokia mobile brand

    Company founded to revive Nokia mobile brand

    A new company has been established to revive the Nokia handset and tablet brand. The company, HMD Global, has lined up deals with Microsoft and Nokia to fulfil this goal.

    Nokia has agreed to grant the new company an exclusive global license to create Nokia-branded phones and tablets for the next ten years.

    In return, Nokia will receive royalty payments for all sales of Nokia-branded devices covering both brand and IP rights.

    Microsoft has meanwhile conditionally agreed to sell its feature phone business to HMD and Foxconn’s FIH Mobile for $350 million. With the deal, HMD will also acquire related design rights from Microsoft. This transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year.

    FIH is acquiring assets from Microsoft including device manufacturing, sales and distribution. HMD and FIH then plan to collaborate to build a global business for Nokia-branded mobile devices.

    With the moves HMD will become the sole global licensee for all Nokia-branded mobile devices, and plans to produce a full range of feature phones, smartphones and tablets. The new company plans to invest over $500 million in the next five years to support its foray into the market.

    After the Microsoft transaction closes, HMD Global will be led by Arto Nummela, a former Nokia executive who is currently the head of Microsoft’s mobile devices business for APAC and MEA, as well as Microsoft’s global feature phones business.

    Fellow former Microsoft executive Florian Seiche, now SVP for Europe sales and marketing at Microsoft Mobile, will also join the company as president.

    “Branding has become a critical differentiator in mobile phones, which is why our business model is centered on the unique asset of the Nokia brand and our extensive experience in sales and marketing,” Nummella said.

    “We will work with world class providers in manufacturing and distribution to move quickly and deliver what customers want.”

    Lees ook:

  • Celcom excludes Nokia from 4G upgrade project

    Celcom excludes Nokia from 4G upgrade project

    Malaysia’s Celcom Axiata has excluded Nokia from its new five-year 4G network upgrade project, cutting its selection of vendor partners down to just Huawei and Ericsson.

    The company has signed an infrastructure agreement with Huawei and Ericsson for a project expected to have capex costs of up to 2.2 billion ringgit ($566.7 million).

    Celcom’s existing network infrastructure was built based on a three-partner collaboration of Nokia, Ericsson Malaysia and Huawei. But Celcom chief of operations Ramanathan Sathiamutty said the operator is cutting its partners down to two to streamline partner management

    Under the new contract, Ericsson and Huawei will be responsible for the full turnkey delivery of a radio access network to support the 4G rollout and prepare for the introduction of 5G.

    Celcom has budgeted between 1.8 billion and 2.2 billion ringgit as capex for the rollout. The amount spent will be contingent on whether Malaysia introduces spectrum refarming for the 900-MHz and 1800-MHz bands – if refarming is announced, the budget will be 2.2 billion ringgit.

    The operator said the upgrade will allow the company to offer broader coverage with fewer sites, allowing it to realize group-level cost savings.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia’s H3I taps Nokia for core network upgrade

    Indonesia’s H3I taps Nokia for core network upgrade

    Hutchison 3 Indonesia (H3I) has contracted Nokia to expand its core network to meet growing mobile data demands in the market.

    Under the agreement, Nokia will supply H3I with packet core technology in cities including Surabaya, Semarang, Solo and Yogyakarta – the most densely populated cities in the country.

    Nokia will also provide network planning, optimization, implementation and care services, as well as its Flexi convergent mediation device and its NetAct operations support system. The contract is also aimed at laying the groundwork for future network upgrades to meet emerging demands.

    H3I has been seeing data traffic double around every nine months as a result of rapid smartphone and 3G data adoption in Indonesia’s growing economy.

    Mobile is playing a leading role in providing internet connectivity to Indonesians. As of the start of 2016 there were over 320 million mobile subscribers across Indonesia, while fixed broadband penetration remained under 2%.

    “We are pleased to have Nokia’s services and technology expertise at our side as we evolve our core network to meet the speed and quality needs of a growing number of connected consumers and business users in Indonesia,” H3I president director Randeep Singh Sekhon said.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Nokia starts cutting jobs after ALU merger

    Nokia starts cutting jobs after ALU merger

    Nokia has commenced a program to cut thousands of jobs worldwide as part of the cost-cutting and transformation program associated with the takeover of Alcatel-Lucent.

    The company plans to cut 1,300 jobs in Finland, 1,400 in Germany and 400 in France as part of the headcount reduction program, which will take place between now and the end of 2018.

    But Nokia also agreed to create 500 new R&D jobs in France as a condition of receiving approval from the French government to acquire Alcatel-Lucent.

    Nokia has not yet revealed how many jobs will be eliminated worldwide. The company has around 104,000 employees.

    The job cuts form part of a program aimed at achieving €900 million ($1.02 billion) in annual operating cost synergies by 2018. Nokia said the program is also aimed at adapting to challenging market conditions and shifting resources to important new and upcoming technologies including 5G, the cloud and the IoT.

    “These actions are designed to ensure that Nokia remains a strong industry leader,” commented Nokia president and CEO Rajeev Suri.

    “When we announced the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent we made a commitment to deliver €900 million in synergies – and that commitment has not changed. We also know that our actions will have real human consequences and, given this, we will proceed in a way that that is consistent with our company values and provide transition and other support to the impacted employees.”