SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It has been a tough time for Nokia Inc. The company has recently cut jobs in Denmark, Japan and Finland. And this week, the firm lost a bid for part of Nortel's assets.
In another move to cut costs, Nokia on Tuesday (Nov. 24) said that it will be reducing its R&D activities in Japan. The cell-phone giant will cut about 220 employees in Japan. The total number would represent slightly more than 1 percent of Nokia's R&D personnel globally.
Nokia will continue its sourcing activities in Japan. The Japanese operation of Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia's network infrastructure business, is not affected by this announcement.
This week, Nokia Siemens Networks also suffered a blow. Nokia Siemens Networks confirmed that, with its financial partner, it did not submit the highest bid for Nortel's optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets in the bankruptcy court-sanctioned auction.
It lost the bid to Ciena Corp., which has been selected as the successful bidder in the auction of substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks business. Ciena agreed to pay $530 million in cash and issue $239 million in aggregate principal amount of 6 percent Senior Convertible notes due 2017 for a total consideration of $769 million for the assets.
Meanwhile, Nokia Siemens Networks is also conducting a global personnel review which may lead to headcount reductions in the range of about 7-9 percent of its current approximately 64,000 employees.
Not to be outdone, as previously announced last week, Nokia itself plans to reduce some of its R&D activities in Finland and Denmark. The cuts are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia's Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia's Copenhagen site. The total number would represent approximately 2 percent of Nokia's R&D personnel globally.
Also this month, Nokia initiated a charger exchange program. Nokia identified a potential product quality issue with certain chargers manufactured by one of its third-party suppliers. The plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger's internal components and potentially posing an electrical shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.
To accelerate what executives have termed the need for a "cultural" change at the company, Nokia last month moved CFO Rick Simonson to head the mobile phones unit and charged him with the task of handling "strategic sourcing" for the entire devices division. Timo Ihamuotila, head of global sales, was appointed to replace Simonson in the CFO role.
RSS
Digital
10 emerging technologies to watch:
EE Times has compiled a list of emerging technologies that we think will be worth watching out for in 2010. Biofeedback or thought-control of electronics are among the contenders.
Hot applications in 2010:
We've compiled a list of 10 technology applications you should watch for in 2010, ranging from e-book readers to 3-D TVs. We examine the features that make these apps so compelling as well unresolved issues.
Top 25 predictions for semis in 2010:
2010 is just beginning to unfold in the electronics industry. Looking into our crystal ball, we have released our own chip forecasts--and other predictions--for 2010.
Seven things to fix in 2010:
The editors of EE Times came up with their own informal list of things we hope engineers fix in 2010, spanning everything from nano-lithography to space travel. What do you want to see get done this year?
'09 moves that are shaping the future:
This was a brutal year, but the industry gets a nod for showing grace under fire. Here's our Top 10 guide to the coming year, illustrating what to expect in 2010.
10 CEOs out in 2009:
It's been a tough year for the global electronics industry and CEOs. We survey the dismissal of 10 industry CEOs during the first three quarters of 2009 and what's ahead for the rest of the year.
Notable women in microelectronics:
There is no better time than a global economic recession to examine the keys to successful corporate governance. So, EE Times has compiled an international list that celebrates women who are business and technology leaders in semis.
EE Times updates Silicon 60:
Seventeen companies have been added to the lastest version of our Silicon 60 list of emerging startups. Forty-three companies survived as emerging companies that are still worth watching.
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
