Nokia Announces Job CutsNokia Announces Job Cuts

Following through on its pledge to trim the number of its smartphones offerings, Nokia said Monday that it will recalibrate its operations to increase production volume while laying off 285 employees at its Salo, Finland, plant.

The company has been laying off employees at several worldwide locations in recent months as it faces < ahref=http://www.information.com/news/telecom/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222700262>increased competition from other smartphone manufacturers. The firm accounts for about 40% of the market share of global smartphone sales, although its U.S. share is well below that percentage.

The employee cuts and the production changes at Nokia's Salo facility are aimed at improving its smartphone position in the European market, the firm said. "Salo is a crucial part of Nokia's global manufacturing network," said Juha Putkiranta, the firm's senior vice president of markets, in a statement. "Plans involving changes to employees are always painful, and they are set in motion only after thorough consideration. With these plans, our aim is to ensure the plant's future competitiveness and its special role as one best suited to the production of high value mobile devices."

In December, Nokia said it would cut the number of its smartphones roughly in half to 10 models. Its N97 smartphone has been enjoying strong sales, but hasn't garnered the highly positive reviewer acclaim generated by iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphone models. While Nokia is cutting the number of its smartphone models, it has been beefing up the software and content of its Symbian and Maemo OS platforms.

Last week the Symbian Foundation announced that Symbian OS is now fully open source and open to contributions from developers around the world.

Nokia said it will focus production at the Salo plant entirely on the smartphone market "especially in Europe" with a goal of making faster deliveries. The firm has ten global manufacturing sites including two in the Western Hemisphere -- in Mexico and Brazil.