Nokia to phase out 10,000 jobs

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ESPOO, Finland, June 14 (UPI) -- Finnish handset giant Nokia said Thursday it would phase out 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013 in a broad restructuring plan meant to save billions of dollars.

The total financial repositioning is not completely known. Nokia said it plans to sell some assets, such as its line of Vertu luxury mobile phones, which it is selling to EQT VI, a private equity firm. It also said it was aiming to reduce operating cost by $2 billion by the end of next year.

The company said it would cut research-and-development units, which would mean closure of Nokia facilities in Ulm, Germany, and Burnaby, Canada.

Its manufacturing plant in Salo, Finland, would also close, although Nokia said it would keep its R&D unit in Salo going.

In a statement, Nokia said "this period of transition" includes a shakeup of its executive team.

Among the leadership changes, Nokia said Juha Putkiranta would serve as executive vice president of operations. Timo Toikkanen would take the post of executive vice president of mobile phones.

The company's chief marketing officer, Jerri DeVard, will "step down," Nokia said. Chris Weber would take the post of executive vice president of sales and marketing.

With the changes, Nokia is aiming to "focus on the products and services that our customers value most, while continuing to invest in the innovation that has always defined Nokia," said President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop.

Elop called the job cuts "a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength."

Nokia employs 139,000 people, the company's Web site says.