Microsoft slashes 12,500 jobs in Nokia Division

[dmcowen674]

7-17-2014

http://news.yahoo.com/elop-told-12-500-nokia-employees-just-got-134545423.html

Here’s what Elop told the 12,500 Nokia employees who just got axed


Microsoft announced on Thursday that it was laying 12,500 people who currently work for its Nokia devices and services division.

Earlier this year, Elop came under heavy criticism in the Finnish press after it was revealed that Nokia employees would not be receiving any bonuses for their work in 2013 even though at the same time

Elop made a whopping $25 million bonus that year for overseeing the merger between Microsoft and Nokia. Nokia board members apparently pleaded with Elop to take a smaller bonus but he refused because he said he needed that money to pay for a pending divorce with his wife.

 

[dmcowen674]

Don't think Finlanders are very happy with the U.S. about now.

 

[Zaap]

Microsoft had a Nokia Division?

Who knew?

Next up: Microsoft lays off its HTC Division.

 

[Oldgamer]

I am wondering how much of this has to do with so many other countries feeling nervous about buying Microsoft products right now considering all the NSA and CIA spying, and all the Snowden revelations about the outright interception of Microsoft and other various products like Cisco that have been tampered with prior to reaching the buyers. I mean there have already been several news reports about the tech industry being hit hard monetarily and I think this is just the beginning of more to come honestly.

 

[CPA]

Don't think Finlanders are very happy with the U.S. about now.

why? Nokia's sales were plummeting and problems started well before the Microsoft buyout. This was probably going to happen whether Microsoft owned the company or not.

 

[Zaap]

why? Nokia's sales were plummeting and problems started well before the Microsoft buyout. This was probably going to happen whether Microsoft owned the company or not.

psst. Dude. It's McOwned.

His level of comprehension is: "Rich guy make muhnee! Me mad!"

 

[Drako]

I am wondering how much of this has to do with so many other countries feeling nervous about buying Microsoft products right now considering all the NSA and CIA spying ...

Exactly zero. :biggrin:

 

[Fern]

Don't think Finlanders are very happy with the U.S. about now.

Why would that be?

Looks like is a Finnish company and Elop is a Canadian they hired and gave the bonus contract. What do we have to do with it?

Fern

 

[Fern]

Looks like the total number of cuts is expected to be 18,000

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/17/technology/enterprise/microsoft-job-cuts/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Fern

 

[realibrad]

psst. Dude. It's McOwned.

His level of comprehension is: "Rich guy make muhnee! Me mad!"

I'm thinking that he used to be wealthy, and is not anymore. He used to take boat trips to the Hamptons.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

why? Nokia's sales were plummeting and problems started well before the Microsoft buyout. This was probably going to happen whether Microsoft owned the company or not.

Yes, staying with Symbian OS too long killed Nokia. Their initial move to Windows phone helped them to a certain extent but they were still massively lagging behind Apple and the phone manufacturers that adopted Android.

 

[Jaepheth]

...Nokia board members apparently pleaded with Elop to take a smaller bonus but he refused because he said he needed that money to pay for a pending divorce with his wife.

Correlation does not equal causation mister Elop

You're not refusing to take a smaller bonus because of the divorce. I hypothesize you're refusing to take a smaller bonus AND getting a divorce because you're a dick.

 

[Bitek]

Yes, staying with Symbian OS too long killed Nokia. Their initial move to Windows phone helped them to a certain extent but they were still massively lagging behind Apple and the phone manufacturers that adopted Android.

Also shows how weak MS has become. Their attempts to break into mobile have been lately futile.

 

[Jhhnn]

Microsoft bought Nokia at fire sale prices in order to liquidate it, hopefully at a profit, take the patents as their own. Elop's complicity earned him his bonus.

Any questions?

 

[Fox5]

Well, people called this a few years ago when Elop went over to Nokia in the first place. The plan was to crash the Nokia business and get it sold at a fire sale.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Microsoft has been in a steady decline as a technology company. Sure they still dominate the pc desktop market and are a force to be reckoned on the server side however they have been unable to branch into the mobile cell phone and tablet device marketplace in any kind of meaningful way. These markets are the largest growth sector in the tech industry right now and Microsoft is out of the loop.

In essence they dominated the PC marketplace for such a long time that they didn't see or notice how technology was shifting and broadening consumer trends so that their dominance on one platform would be a moot point in the long term.

They have not been able to translate their core product (Windows OS) to be able to compete with the likes of Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS as people do more and more of their casual computing from hand held devices in a mobile setting. As a result they trying to lighten the load of bloat in their organization as they have grown to fat and heavy as an organization to respond to the rapid pace of technological consumer computing trend.

Will it work? Only time will tell but considering Google's explosive and dominate growth and the dynamic and responsive nature toward innovation demonstrated by Apple they have a huge mountain to climb.

Edit: As for Elop being a "Trojan Horse" for Microsoft well the author David J. Cord (A US ex-pat living in Finland) disputes this point in his exhaustive review of the rise and fall of Nokia. In that book he points the finger at middle-management who often fumbled the ball when it came to transitioning the innovation occurring internally in Nokia out to consumers, executives who feared competing with Samsung in the Android ecosystem which lead to the decision to partner up with Microsoft (which is a fault that can be placed on Elop) and use its mobile OS instead.

http://www.stairwaypress.com/bookstore/the-decline-and-fall-of-nokia/

 

[Cerb]

After the fallout, everything I read from lower-tier folk, like devs, also pointed to typical middle management as is common in established bureaucracies. Meego had sufficient promise, before they did their last-ditch Windows attempt, but they never got it mature enough. Were they not so bogged down, it would have been an obvious choice to support Android, and make Meego/Moblin shine, then give it a better name, and support both (kind of like Samsung is working on doing by turning Tizen into a real OS).

 

[werepossum]

I am wondering how much of this has to do with so many other countries feeling nervous about buying Microsoft products right now considering all the NSA and CIA spying, and all the Snowden revelations about the outright interception of Microsoft and other various products like Cisco that have been tampered with prior to reaching the buyers. I mean there have already been several news reports about the tech industry being hit hard monetarily and I think this is just the beginning of more to come honestly.

There may well be some of that, but Nokia has been on the downswing for a long time. Frankly I'm shocked that Nokia even HAS 12,500 employees to be let go, much less 18,000.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Prior to 2010 Nokia dominated the world cell phone market. Just 5 years ago you could go to the most remote area of a third world country and hear a Nokia ringtone.

As of 2013, Nokia employed 90,000 people across 120 countries, conducts sales in more than 150 countries and reported annual revenues of around €12.7 billion

Had they shifted to Android instead of sticking with Symbian for so long they could still be a big player in the world phone market.

 

[OverVolt]

I have zero sympathy for Microsoft after Windows 8 :

They don't know what they're doing. Its that simple.