Nokia (NOK) detailed today what it says will be the last of the 10,000 job cuts announced last June. The latest cuts affect 300 workers in the company’s IT division. Nokia will also transfer up to 820 employees to HCL Technologies and TATA Consultancy Services. Nokia says that most of the workers impacted by these cuts are based in Finland.
Last summer, Nokia set out to cut its workforce by 20% and trim almost $3 billion from its cost structure. The company was able to piggyback on Microsoft’s marketing budget when launching its Lumia line of Windows-based smartphones, which it says are delivering better-than-expected results. Nokia also says that operating expenses have been lower than expected, and that its devices and services unit should report a profitable fourth quarter. The company’s joint venture with Siemens, Nokia Siemens Networks, had a good 4th quarter.
While Nokia has yet to release detailed fourth quarter results, the company has said it shipped an estimated 86.3 million mobile devices last quarter. But only 4.4 million of those were Lumia smarpthones. 9.3 million were Asha smartphones. The bulk of Nokia’s devices continue to be feature phones, a market that the company still dominates. According to ABI Research, Nokia had 21% of the handset market in the third quarter of 2012, more than any other company except Samsung, which had 25% of the market.
While Nokia’s outlook does appear to be brightening a bit, the company still has a cloud of debt on its balance sheet. Rating agencies have assigned junk status to Nokia’s bonds, signaling investor uncertainty that Nokia can recover quickly enough to meet its obligations.
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