Sony Ericsson may be laying off another potential 2,000 workers some time soon in an effort to restore profitability at the troubled mobile phone maker. The move to axe 2,000 staff and contractors in 2009 from the 10,000-strong workforce follows hard on the heels of last year’s removal of 2,000 jobs. It underlines how Dick Komiyama, Sony Ericsson’s president, is developing a reputation as an aggressive cost-cutter.

The handset maker owned by Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson on Friday reported a net loss of €293m ($381m) for the first three months of 2009, because consumers are buying fewer mobile phones in the global recession.

Mr Komiyama last year set out plans to reduce Sony Ericsson’s annual operating expenses by €480m, partly by cutting 2,000 jobs, or 17 per cent of the workforce. All the world’s leading handset makers are braced for falling sales in 2009, but Sony Ericsson is feeling more pain than larger rivals such as Nokia, Samsung and LG.

Sony Ericsson is experiencing a deeper unit sales decline than Nokia partly because it does not make cheap mobiles. Consumers are “trading down” to low-priced mobiles . Sony Ericsson is also suffering because it has a weak range of smartphones – mobiles that double up as mini computers – compared with traditional rivals and new entrants such as Apple.

Sony Ericsson reported revenue of €1.7bn for the three months to March 31, down 36 per cent on the same period last year. The net loss of €293m compared with a net profit of €133m in the first quarter of 2008.

(Source) FT.com

Tags: axe 2, Business, Cell Phones, consumers, decline, dick, First Quarter, first three months, global recession, handset makers, hard on the heels, mini computers, mobile phone maker, mobile phones, net profit, operating expenses, profitability, reputation, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, traditional rivals, workforce

Here is another big blow for businesses who are getting big bucks by partnering with Nokia. Nokia has reportedly decided that it would not use any more outside contract manufacturers for the fabrication process of its phones. According to the company, due to weak global demand on the phone market, it would stop outsourcing its production to Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) providers or to Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs).

Back in 2008, the Finnish mobile phone maker outsourced around 17 percent of the manufacturing volume of its mobile phone engines. The outsourcing included phones and the software that enabled its basic operations, while the companies involved were Foxconn International Holdings, BYD, Elcoteq and Jabil Circuit. Nokia’s announcement is bad news for contract manufacturing and mobile handset businesses, yet it shows that the company is able to adjust according to changing market demand.

Tags: assembly operations, Business, Cell Phones, contract manufacturers, demand source, design manufacturers, electronics manufacturing service, ems providers, global demand, global economic recession, handset market, isuppli corp, jabil circuit, manufacturing partners, mobile handsets, mobile phone maker, Nokia, nokia nokia, principal analyst, service ems

Nvidia is a name that we can easily associate with graphics cards but unknown to many, it may be a new name in the mobile phone market. And through HTC, the latest leak regarding the company’s roadmap for 2009 shows a little more pieces of information, while also confirming some of the devices that were suggested to be in the works at the moment.

Among them, one of the most interesting handsets that can be spotted is the SuperStar, an nVidia-powered one, built around the nVidia AP16 and featuring 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM. In addition, the product also includes a whopping 3.7-inch WVGA display, with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution, which should go very well with the 600MHz chipset it sports inside.

However, the handset isn’t expected to come to the surface anytime soon, given the fact that it should be running under Windows Mobile 6.5, which we all know is due for release sometime in the second half of the year.

Other products that should come from the Taiwanese company this year include the HTC Chief and HTC Captain, both handsets powered by WM 6.1, including a Qualcomm chipset and showing off a 2.4-inch display. Hopefully, the mobile phone maker will confirm at least some of the devices spotted here, and we hope that SuperStar and Star are among them.

(Source) Softpedia

Tags: Cell Phones, graphics cards, handsets, mobile phone maker, mobile phone market, nvidia, Other Brands, pixel resolution, qualcomm, roadmap, superstar, taiwanese company

The layoffs continue and Nokia is biting. Despite being the world’s largest mobile phone maker, Nokia has to cut down its workforces as well. With an expected layoff of as many as 1,000, a voluntary departure package has been laid out. However, these layoffs will not impact the firm’s Indian operations, for it being one of the growing markets in the world.

Nokia has said the new plan would lessen the need for “involuntary redundancies” and also help in cutting costs.

“The voluntary resignation package will be open for application from March 1 until 1,000 employees have applied, closing at the latest on May 31, 2009,” the Finnish company said in a recent statement.

When contacted, a spokesperson of Nokia India said, “India is one of the growing markets and the above mentioned package does not imply on them.”

In fact, the company is still recruiting in India.

The voluntary measures are aimed at reducing personnel- related costs and lessening the need for involuntary redundancies, it added.

(Source) The Asian Age

Tags: Business, departure package, india, Layoffs, mobile phone maker, Nokia, Nokia, redundancies, Voluntary Resignation

It looks like Nokia is planning to expand its niche and its next order of business will be to invade the laptop industry.

Although the venture may sound risky considering the existing number of players in the laptop industry, Nokia is ready to take it since they have already made their mark in the mobile phone market.

The world’s top mobile phone maker Nokia is eyeing entering the laptop business, its Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview to Finnish national broadcaster YLE on Wednesday.

“We are looking very actively also at this opportunity,” Kallasvuo said, when asked whether Nokia plans to make laptops.

Industry has rumored about Nokia’s possible plan to enter the PC industry since late last year, but Kallasvuo’s comment was the first official admittance of such plans.

“We don’t have to look even for five years from now to see that what we know as a mobile phone and what we know as a PC are in many ways converging,” Kallasvuo said.

(Source) Reuters

Tags: Laptops, Laptops, mobile phone maker, mobile phone market, Nokia, Nokia

Vertu, the luxury brand of Nokia is set to open mobile services in Japan. They will become the first mobile phone maker to encroach on the Japanese service provider domain, which has been dominated by domestic companies.

This new service will allow subscribers to access a host of mobile services including ‘Club VERTU,’ which includes a special members-only concierge. This new service will be supported by the Nokia Siemens Networks’ hosted Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) solution.

“Meeting the needs of customers in this segment requires a specialised approach. Vertu users the world over are discerning individuals who are willing to pay a premium for the right experience,” Tagore Ramoutar, Vertu’s director of business development for Japan and Korea, said in a statement.

(Source) AFP

Tags: Business, luxury brand, mobile phone maker, mobile services, mobile virtual network operator, Nokia, Nokia, nokia siemens networks, nokia vertu, Siemens