Business     

Nokia to cut jobs, distribution centers in China

Shanghai Daily, July 13, 2012

• Workers put up a new Nokia advertisement on the front of an electronics mall in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]?

  Nokia Corp, which is struggling to survive as it competes with iPhone and Android phones, will cut jobs in China, its biggest regional market.

  Its four distribution centers in Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will be integrated into two centers in Beijing and Guangzhou. It will lay off people but the details and figures are not available, said Gao Xiang, Nokia China's spokesperson, yesterday.

  Wang Ying, analyst at Beijing-based research firm Analysys International, said: "Apple and Google (with Android) have changed the industry structure completely through software and a service-oriented business model.''

  By the end of the first quarter, Nokia's market share in China was 11.4 percent, behind Samsung's 24.86 percent and Huawei's 12.6 percent, said Analysys. Years ago Nokia had over 30 percent of the market.

  In June, Nokia said it would lay off 10,000 jobs globally and close several plants in Europe and Canada by the end of 2013.

  Boston-based Strategy Analytics said Nokia had lost global market share to Samsung, the world's largest seller of cell phones by volume. Samsung has 25 percent against 22 percent for Nokia.

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