Nokia announces 10,000 job cuts, sale of Vertu and change in strategy

Today Nokia announced plans to cut 10,000 positions in what the company called a "sharpening [of] its strategy" in an effort to return to profitability. The company also announced key leadership changes and the sale of its luxury smartphone line, Vertu. Nokia additionally revised its financial outlook for the second quarter, lowering financial expectations.

In a stock exchange release, the company announced it will eliminate 10,000 jobs globally by the end of next year. Layoffs weren't the only major employment changes, as the company also announced it will make significant alterations to its current senior leadership team. The company's chief marketing officer, executive vice president of mobile phones and executive vice president of markets have all stepped down as a result of the management change. Internal candidates have filled those positions, and two more senior leadership positions were added: a new executive vice president of sales and marketing and a new senior vice president of communications.

In addition to employment changes, Nokia also announced it will sell Vertu, the company's luxury smartphone line, to EQT VI, a European private equity firm. Additionally, the company revealed it will acquire "developers, technologies and intellectual property" from Scalado, an imaging specialist company. Nokia has been working with Scalado for 10 years and will use the company as a "key site" for Nokia's imaging software development for the company's smartphones.

The company's strategy overhaul will include an increased emphasis on location-based services and an attempt to create more unique Lumia devices to increase the sales of the company's flagship smartphone line. Nokia was recently rumored to be behind a new 3D maps service that will be integrated in all Windows Phone 8 devices. Nokia announced that it will continue to "invest in location-based services as an area of competitive differentiation for Nokia products and extend its location-based platform to new industries."

Since the announcements, Nokia's stock has plummeted, reaching a new 52-week low of $2.61.

Source: Nokia