Smartphones are big business and companies that have been slow to introduce smart phone options themselves are really starting to feel the pinch. According to the most recent report from Reuters, cell phone maker Nokia plans to cut more than 10,000 more jobs this year. This brings the total number of staff cuts to one in three, which is a whole lot.
Nokia has been having a tough time with cell phone market rivals Apple and Samsung. The company has been trying to hold on and come up with a product that will bring them back to profitability, but in the meantime, they are burning through cash reserves and investors are beginning to worry about the company's future.
Last week, the company said that their phone business would post a deeper-than-expected loss during the second quarter, due mainly to tougher competition. Although Nokia was one the world's leading cell phone providers, they were not prepared for the rise of smartphones and have lost a great deal of business because of it.
The company is hoping that the release of their own smartphone, called Lumia, which uses Microsoft Corp software will bring the company the turn-around that they so desperately need. However, Windows based phones are largely untried and haven't been generating as much buzz as Apple products or Android devices. So far, sales of Lumia have been slow and the company's stock prices have dropped more than 70 percent since February 2011.
The 10,000 job cut will affect their operations across the globe. The company plans to close their only plant in Finland, which is the company's home.The future of Nokia remains to be seen, but for now, they are hoping that with restructuring, better marketing of the Lumia and selling off other portions of their company they can remain competitive.
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