Nokia announces sweeping changes, including 10,000 job cuts

Nokia Corp, once the world's dominant mobile handset maker, today announced sweeping changes that include another 10,000 job cuts globally, cut its earnings forecast for this quarter, and changed its top management team.

The Espoo, Finland-based company, which has seen its market value erode by more than $88 billion since Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, will also close its only manufacturing plant in Salo in Finland, and research and development centres in Ulm, Germany, and Burnaby in Canada.

Nokia said that it will continue with its R&D centre in Salo.

But the bad news does not end here, as the mobile handset giant will take a €1 billion ($1.3 billion) charge by the end of 2013 as part of the present restructuring. 

The present round of job cuts comes after the company announced in September 2011 that it plans to cut 3,500 jobs in Romania, Germany and the US by the end of 2012 and close a plant in Romania.

That round of planed layoffs were in addition to 7,000 job cuts already announced by Nokia in April 2011, when it unveiled a €1-billion cost-cutting programme.