Nokia plans changes to its manufacturing operations to increase efficiency in smartphone production
Here’s some news straight from Nokia’s press release yesterday that I didn’t get around being at the hospital all day. Nokia’s factories at Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland are to focus on smartphone product customisation. Device assembly is shiftying to Asia. These are cost cutting measures so Nokia production is closer to their suppliers. This apparently will allow them to introduce innovations more quickly allowing Nokia, as we all hope, to be more competitive.
Nokia expects a reduction in around 4000 personnel, again, huge cost cutting measures as Nokia opts for less expensive labour. Hopefully that will not mean any reduction in quality. Nokia will look to assist those affected with their “comprehensive locally-tailored support program”, which includes assistance finding new jobs locally and financial support.
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has today announced planned changes at its factories in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland. The measures follow a review of smartphone manufacturing operations that Nokia announced last September and aim to increase the company’s competitiveness in the diverse global mobile device market.
These three factories are planned to focus on smartphone product customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based.
“With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers. They give us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customer needs,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president, Markets.
“Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” said Savander. “We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition.”
As a consequence of the plans, the number of steps in manufacturing and the amount of work carried out at the sites in Komarom, Reynosa and Salo are expected to decrease substantially. The changes are anticipated to impact approximately 4,000 employees in total.
Personnel reductions are planned to be phased through the end of 2012. Nokia will offer a comprehensive locally-tailored support program, including financial support and assistance with local re-employment.
Category: Nokia
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- Mobilissimo.ro | February 9, 2012
This sucks, but with China being China (reluctant to export raw materials and stuff)…
afaik, Nokia has factories also in India and Vietnam at least, in Asia. The latter at least, though, has focused on lower end phones.
also, iirc, elop said during his visit to brazil the one in manaus would make some of the wp phones.
so, not all china.
I’m aware of these plants. With Brazil it’s notable that Brazil itself is a producer of raw materials needed for these devices, such as is China.
Sorry, did not mean to imply you didn’t.
Yes, Brazil produces many minerals and oil for sure.
My 6610 back in the day was made in Brazil.. and Nokia was at one point among the top 10-12 exporters of Brazil!
The plant on Vietnam is due to open in 2013. Current factories in Asia are China, India and Korea.
If Nokia want to cut cost they should get rid of Elop first, maybe they’ll save a few millions of dollars.
yes te same guy wose deal brings in 250mill every quarter..
lol pwnd
And takes Nokia from making nearly 1 Billion to making losses?
Nokia would’ve lost a lot more than money if it wasn’t for Elop. He made a right choice even though many people on forums do not understand why.
Of course people here understand it very good why he made this decisions…look at where he comes, how many MS shares he owns/ed and then it’s so very clear and simple…the answer is $$$
*Looks at Nokia quarterly profits over the last four years*
I think you’ll find the rot set in long before Elop was appointed. They way you lot are blaming him for all of Nokia’s problems is comical.
Look at Nokia’s last quartely .. Their mobile division make profits last quarter
What the hell is “product customization”? Sticking a label on the box and call it “made in Europe”?
This means actually shifting the work from more or less fairly paid workers to extorting dirt cheap workers in Asia. Of course they would not make their hands dirty, there are contract manufacturers, and Nokia “does not know” whats going on there. I know, others are doing the same. This is a poor justification.
Nokia is becoming “one of them”. It’s not “our” brand anymore. It’s a money making machine, no passion, no “sisu”, no own OS, soon nothing really coming from Europe.
Time to buy one more N9 and keep it for the museum. The last master piece fully “made by Nokia”.
http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/02/02/nokia-unveils-policy-on-conflict-minerals/
From the comments:
It’s been our policy to not disclose our suppliers because there are competitive sensitivities involved and the list of the suppliers isn’t static.
However, we take our responsibilities in the area of labor conditions very seriously. Our suppliers must comply with over 80 different social and ethical requirements on areas like working hours, health & safety, and environmental management. We visit more than 100 sites each year to check these standards are being met. In order to achieve sustainable results, we believe that all parties – governments, industry, non-governmental organizations and consumers – need to take responsibility to drive and support environmentally and socially responsible behavior and compliance with labor and environmental laws.
We also believe there is more that could and should be done as an industry to drive up standards, especially in markets where this is a new or young industry. We are working at the industry level in the Global e-Sustainability Initiative’s Supply Chain Working Group. As part of this work, we are actively participating in a project looking at key challenges and ways to improve labor and social conditions within the ICT industry in China.
ELOP can go fuck himself…this is gonna cause problems for china….watch
can you elaborate on that?
no he can’t because he always talk out of his ass
Deep Space Fail again.
Important statements there from Nokia. As customers, we should try to hold them to those statements.
There are Chinese factories and then there Chines factories.
And you thought spending all summer in the sauna was a good idea? Talk about extremes.
You are saying the people in Asia who bust their ass to feed their families shouldn’t get the work?
How about you act to make the conditions in China better, and come to the realization that the world is not getting less global anytime soon.
Enjoy your personal luxury where you can spend disposable cash on a phone that you won’t even use, only to put it in your museum display case.
So you are saying paying less for the same work, lowering safety standards, accepting burned out workers is OK? I am curious about your comment after you received the benefits of becoming part of the globalised workforce!
Yeah, it’s a global trend and those not yet affected from it, benefit partly from it. If and what can be done against remains to be seen.
But to embrace those changes without any critics and celebrate them social revolution in third world countries is rather cynical!
What do you expect from a paid poster? I’ve been following his comments rather closely. He would sell his own mother if it were profitable. A fitting “fan” of Elop.
sigh. That comment was totally nessecary right?
You are a fucking disgusting bigot.. When somEbody post a different opinion does it mean.they are paid ? what are you too ? A paid MS hater.. I gate the guts of dimwits like you .
I’ll agree with your statement as soon as you come up with a vague idea of who might be paying me.
On the other hand, I’ve a very clear idea of who is paying you.
Nobody would pay you, zorg because you’re utterly worthless.
stop stooping to his level.
honestly if jr dint say a word this whole discussion wont even have to happen.
The jobs they provide is a way for them to allow them to escape poverty.
So is slavery.
I recall the rape of Africa and Asia by Europeans in the 19th and 20th centuries being motivated in large part by “the civilizing mission” and needing to “help the poor savages”. Because it was “obvious to everyone” that they couldn’t help themselves, right?
I suppose Asians and Chinese in particular aren’t able to create jobs through their own companies? (deep sarcasm)
Guess what? The jobs that Nokia provides are a way for Finns and Hungarians and Romanians to escape poverty. Have you ever been to Eastern Europe? There are many poor and homeless there that would kill for a job at an assembly plant. This was (ostensibly) the reason why the plant in Romania was opened in the first place a few years ago. To give jobs where they were most needed.
I recall you saying you are an Asian (though suspiciously refusing to name the country you are from). In that case, why don’t you petition Samsung, HTC, LG and others about creating those jobs in your region? We in Europe need our jobs too.
Except slavery doesn’t involve remuneration and economic stimulation.
So, no. It isn’t the same.
It is almost the same. Slaves do get enough to stay alive and being able to work. Many of those 3rd world country workers don’t get much more. Except they have families to create more cheap workers, it’s almost the same as slavery. I doubt they stimulate much the local economy.
Would love to see you back these up. Your making alot of claims there.
Go back to the history of North American slavery (and South American, too) for backup.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a slave, being an expensive commodity, needs enough food and basic care to be able to work to his/her full potential.
The work conditions of most Asian assembly workers differ little from those of slaves. At Foxconn they are not even permitted to leave the grounds except on certain days (or forced to stay through reductions in pay or other circumscriptions).
Did you seriously just compare the working conditions of negro slaves in the US and South America to a remunerated workforce in China and Korea? That’s comic genius!
Pro tip: Go back to the history books and see what severance terms meant to the slaves. You’ll find it generally involved a tree and a rope.
Tell us more, Mr. Pro. What do severance terms mean to a poor, malnourished Foxconn worker who has a wife/husband, child, and two sets of elderly parents to feed?
You seem to be the expert, so please, some links to the wonderful working conditions and severance terms.
They don’t mean being hung from a tree or worked to death which is pretty much what a slave could expect in the US and SA.
As for ‘poor and malnourished’, can you give us a breakdown of the standard of living of a Chinese industrial worker working for, say, Foxconn, as opposed to a rural Chinese agricultural worker?
Of course you can’t but let’s just say it’s light years better.
china =! asia
its something people often forget.
@Mark
So, you are in fact saying that it’s alright for a company that is able to easily pay their lowest tier of assembly workers up to 2k euro a month (and has been paying so up until now while simultaneously making decent profit) to start exploiting the Asian poor for labour paying a hundred times less, on the grounds of them being exploited even worse in agriculture? Wow, your cynicism and pragmatism oversteps all bounds. And you dare call me a bigot
Your post above is the definition of bigotry.
Fact: China workers are treated badly.
Fact: Nokia claimed and stated they will treated their staff well.
So the questions is, IS nokia ABUSING their staff?
HERE, its THE GOLDEN CHANCE to FIRE ELOP.
SO fOR THE LOVE OF GOD PROVE IT!!!!! GET ELOP FIREDDDDDDD
@arts
Fact: Foxconn workers are treated atrociously.
Fact: Nokia has subcontracted Foxconn to produce their Lumia line.
Fact: The Lumia has been announced as the main focus of Nokia.
Connect the dots?
We are not talking about Nokia’s OWN assembly lines here. We are talking about production being dismantled (first Europe, then Asia) and subcontracted to those Chinese/Asian companies that treat their workforce poorly.
@dr_zorg
“Fact: Nokia has subcontracted Foxconn to produce their Lumia line.”
Umm… no. The current Lumia line-up is made by Compal. The upcoming models (such as the Lumia 900) are made by Nokia.
Try getting your facts from actual facts instead of your magic 8-ball the next time, OK?
Please, tell us more on remuneration and economic stimulation at Foxconn and similar assembly plants. I can’t wait.
zorg, I doubt you have a competent enough background in economics or history to understand but…
Indutrialised nations benefit from their available resources. In some nations this is materials and others it is labour. Labour costs are generally cheap to start with, however, as the workers become skilled, demand increases and the manufacturers become dependent on these skills they rise – this is in the form of increased wages as well as other benefits such as sick pay, health care, eductaion, etc. Labour becomes an asset with the bonus of providing high quality goods as well as an economic stimulus to their local environments as they now have disposable income.
It’s happened in every industrialised economy since the Industrial Revolution. The above is a grossly simplified explanation but it’s what happens.
Posted you a few links to disprove your claims of “remuneration” and “economical stimulation”, but none of those went through.
Just google “Foxconn working conditions” for example.
Of course you know of them perfectly well and are just trolling.
I suspect they didn’t go through because even the internet didn’t believe the rubbish you come out with.
As for your point about Foxconn working conditions, you’re right – they’re not as good as current Western conditions… whilst being as good as or better than working conditions in the the 1920′s to 50′s in the developed Western industrial nations and a damn sight better than conditions in the rural Chinese agricultural economy.
More reading, less posting, k?
We are not in the 20′s or 50′s now, are we?
Less drivel, more sense please.
You wrote four paragraphs without saying anything sensible.
Says quite a lot about your brain capacity, which is lacking.
You need help..sicko
Come on, this sounds like Nokia is doing a good deed by firing a well paid worker and hiring a super cheap worker for the same job!
This trend has long term consequences. A Finnish worker is able to buy the products he is producing, while the Chinese or Indian is hardly able to buy those nice smartphones going through their hands. We are seeing already impacts on our economy, of course this is not Nokia specific.
I’m thinking for the Asians. There is no right or wrong in this as nationalism is in play. I’m thinking for my folks while you are thinking for yours.
Peace out.
Won’t someone please think of the children?? (at the expense of other children)
hmm. i guess the question is whose children is more important then?
that question i dont want to answer. nor do i want to know yours.
That question has been answered a few dozen comments below.
Nokia has been building and investing in Asia for quite a while. Which is perfectly fine and has my full endorsement.
However making EU children poor and exploiting the Asian children to fill Elop’s pockets is wrong and shouldn’t be happening in a company such as Nokia.
On a related note, why do you think Asia should always be on the receiving end of investment (specifically jobs) by Western countries?
You have vast human and technological resources, use them to your potential. Why are you sitting there with your mouth open waiting for more jobs to be put there?
China is one of the richest countries on the globe. When will it be their time to invest into other countries? Will I ever hear of China creating jobs in Finland?
“Why are you sitting there with your mouth open waiting for more jobs to be put there?”
They’re not. They’re aggressively pursuing the opportunities. It’s hardly their fault we’ve become fat and lazy.
So you’re a racist, a bigot and a troll now, zorg? Great CV, champ!
Getting such epithets from the likes of you is almost like getting a compliment.
Keep going.
When I see a nitwit lacking morals and even a basic understanding of ethics call me names, I feel better.
Oh I’m not perfect, that’s true. I’m just not the sort of scumbag who implies an entire nation is a bunch of beggars and job thieves.
You are making up your own implications now? I’ve read they do wonders in mental clinics. You ought to have a checkup.
You know what, zorg? As others have pointed out, all that happens when you feed a troll is that they wallow in their own poison so I’m not going to bother with this anymore. Sure, I’m still going to point out where you’re talking nonsense and spreading misinformation – but I’m not going to get dragged down to your level again.
@Mark
Finally! Good riddance.
I’d actually rather you cool off and go get some air. I do not like the tone that you present, your your self-righteousness.
@Jay
Yet you seem to simply love the tone that MS trolls present here and their self-righteousness. Objectivity does not seem to be your forte, Jay.
Everyone is presenting their opinion, YOU however, present your opinion as if they were the truth bestowed by God or some other higher power.
Please, also, lecture yourself first on objectivity.
That is because my “opinion” is actually based on facts and certain moral principles which Nokia used to follow until recently and which they (and you) now seem to reject.
Right and wrong don’t change. What Elop is doing is simply wrong, and whoever is endorsing it, on a blog or otherwise, is also in the wrong. End of story.
Product customization = operator variants etc. Also, Nokia’s factories in Asia are their own, not outsourced so Nokia ethical guidelines apply there as well.
I do not know either… Maybe loading special sw for certain operator?
Anyway they constantly state that the main reason is not the wages to pay for the workers but ‘to be closer to the supliers’ – hehe… AFAIK these factories – especially the one in Komarom, Hungary – were (are) highly efficient production places. Once I was told that nothing stays more than 24 hours in the (Komarom) factory from receiving the order…
BTW: “For technology companies, the cost of labor is minimal compared with the expense of buying parts and managing supply chains that bring together components and services from hundreds of companies”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
If what is written in this article is right I think no way to keep any production work in ‘western countries’. No way to find people working with these conditions. And I fully understand them, I would not do it either…
+1
My N9 was my last Nokia. The fact that it was made in Finland was my reason to buy them instead of the competition which is quite as good.
I even didn’t buy a Lumia only because when I asked to see the box it was made in China.
I too find this sad. I always loved Nokia because of it’s “European” style. Though the last Nokia phone I had that was made in a place other than China was an E63. That was made in Finland and the quality over the Chinese built phones I’ve had since is really evident.
It’s not about where it made.
Nokia have a QC on all their plants, so no reason to differentiate a tough models if it’s “Made in Europe”.
It is more about where it was designed and if the quality control is tough where it is manufactured. Also probably has a bit to do with the design of the manufacturing line etc.
Most of the E Series were designed in Oulu, from memory.
The iPhone 4S is regarded as one of the best phones currently made. It’s made in China.
Your argument doesn’t hold water. The design is important, everything else is just construction which can be done pretty much everywhere.
the 4s is a fine phone but it’s not durable.
btw. I will never ever buy a product from mocrosoft. I hate the company for that what they have done to nokia.
the days of Made In Finland are gone, Nokia is no longer a Finnish company, only in history
what a shame
I hope the N8 successor will still be available Made in Finland
Well I owned Nokia more than 5 years back which werent made in Finland.
It would have been nice to keep the factory lines in the country but we all know Nokia isn’t going to get competitive with that strategy. Everyone wants cheaper phones yet we forget simple things like these that drive te prices of devices to the roof.
Oh my god, do you know how melodramatic you guys sound? I just reached into my drawer (I mean my “museum”) of broken and/or backup “pre-Obama” phones:
Nokia C5-00, 2010: Made in China
Nokia 2630, 2007: Made in Mexico
Nokia 8801, 2005: Made in Korea
Have I ever had a “Made in Finland” phone, I have no clue – I never cared to check until now.
we all know Nokias had factories everywhere
but the Made In Finland ones used to be the sought after Nokia devices that following has more or less disappeared
but for me its still special to see a Made In Finland Nokia device
My N8, N93i, N95, etc etc have all been MIF
I wished I had one. They kept saying that made in Finland means less bugs and defects. My china one held up fine thou.
Production Finland will still continue.. Its just been reduced.
Stephen Elop said Nokia will remain Head Quartered in Finland while he is in charge.
Nokia is listed on the stock exchange in America and Finland.
From what I understand Nokia has most of the s40 design in China, Windows Phone coming from America, Manufacturing from Asia. Symbian was outsourced to Accenture, QT to Digia. Mapping is centered around Germany.
At this point in time I am not really sure there is much left to be done in Finland.
They still do some manufacturing there. What did you expect. Finland has a really high taxation levels compared to doing business in other countries.
Nokia is no longer paying the bulk of their taxes in Finland, in fact ever since 2008 or so.
This has nothing to do with taxes.
You stepped in it once again.
They still have their HQ there hence all revenue from the company is accounted for there.
No it is not.
http://www.iltalehti.fi/verot/2011110114678797_vr.shtml
According to this article, in 2010 Nokia paid only 1.6 million (!) euro in taxes to Finland.
In comparison, in 2007 the tax was 1.27 billion (!) euro.
Evidently, having the “HQ” in Finland doesn’t mean as being registed there, does it?
They’re doing a huge scale tax evasion with their write offs such as the Navteq one last quarter… It’s awful when companies start building their entire business around quarterly results, so shortsighted! There I can agree with your assessment of Elop…
“According to this article, in 2010 Nokia paid only 1.6 million (!) euro in taxes to Finland.”
It might come as a surprise to the dim-witted, but if you don’t make profit, you don’t pay taxes…
Great, so now even Nokia is joining the ranks of those who fire people in the developed world, leaving them and their families on the streets, to exploit the cheap workforce of far-eastern sweatshops.
I regret I don’t know English well enough to express how disappointed I feel because of this.
At this point, I no longer care about Nokia. They’re no european any more. They don’t care about open source. They don’t care about their users. They don’t care about their workers. They don’t care about the environment. If I have to buy a China phone, I’ll buy one whose manufacturer is Chinese too. It’ll cost me less and it will actually help their economy. Not that they need that.
Amen! The European facilities are reduced to customization for the carriers, also called installing carrier bloatware that do not benefit the users and makes the upgrade process cumbersome. I think I am not a fan of Nokia anymore.
Isn’t it all down to th end consumer? ‘We’ generally won’t pay a 1000 euros/dollars for a phone. ‘We’ want it for much much less, thus creating the need for cutting costs in order to maximize margins for the manufacturer.
If those margins are to thin there is no possible way for the MFR to invest in a new product and it’s development thus effectively rendering the company dead since it cn’t invest in new product lines anymore.
Outsourcing manufacturing to Asia is as much because of consumers as it is because of high level execs trying to get as much margin from a product as they can.
It’s not true that they’re doing it because consumers wouldn’t buy their products otherwise.
Let’s look at Apple: it is estimated that producing the iphone in the USA instead of China would make it cost 60$ more at the end user (source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1). Since the iphone is sold to the end user for 874$, this means that it would cost 6% more. Since Apple is generating 8.7 billion of revenue, do you think that they would be out of business if they earned 6% less of those billions?
Nokia were earning lots of cash as long as people kept buying their phones, so don’t tell me that the labour costs in Finland skyrocketed abruptly in 2011 so that Nokia could no longer afford to manufacture there as they did until the very year before.
No excuses for greed.
I won’t say greed is good (mr. Gecko) nor is it a good thing that Nokia is moving MFR to Asia.
The fact of the matter is, Nokia ain’t no Apple and vice versa. Comparing Nokia to Apple in terms of prices and what people are willing to pay for it is rather pointless. Apple somehow managed to create an image around itself that justifies their high prices for essentially mid range products in terms of cutting edge technology.
Nokia is in a playing field similar to where Windows laptop manufacturers are in. The only way they can compete is on price. This is what they have done for years and because of that people have grown accustomed to low-low prices while still getting the newest tech.
The trend is changing somewhat though, with Ultrabooks etc. and better built devices.
What is important though is other manufacturers in the market that can compete with Nokia based on price because they can manufacture far cheaper than Nokia might be possbile of.
If Nokia can beat those manufacturers to the punch and be flexible in terms of MFR cost before prices go down (think ZTE etc.) than that could ensure Nokia’s survival in that area.
Again, I don’t mean to try and make the lay offs sound reasonable or justified at all. It sucks for all those workers to be out of a job after so many years they put their soul in every device they made. There is however some reason and future proofing behind it.
Nokia can’t live on idealistic manufacturing processes. If the competition is cheaper they will lose out, maybe not completely. But they will losea considerable amount of the market just because people tend to want the best bang for their buck.
“Great, so now even Nokia is joining the ranks of those who fire people in the developed world, leaving them and their families on the streets, to exploit the cheap workforce of far-eastern sweatshops.”
It has dick all to do with labor costs. It’s all about geography. Not much sense in shipping components 7000 miles to a factory for assembly, and the shipping the assembled products back those exactly same 7000 miles for sales.
They didn’t ship the assembled products back 7000 miles. Made in Finland phones were sold in Europe.
And of course the labour cost are part of the reason. Nokia is in deep Elop created shit and he’s now trying to cut costs everywhere. We are now seeing the fruits of Elopian business management. They are very sour.
Just goes to show how much cost pressure there really is in this industry. It was only 8 or so years ago when they shut down the manuf. plant in Dallas to move it to Mexico for the very same reason. And that’s the same reason they opened up the plant in Hungary in the first place too.
Guess those decisions seem rather short sighted now.
Incidentally, the Nokia logo you are using is way out of date. Nokia dropped the ‘Connecting People’ part of it a long time ago.
It’s the same thing in every part of the world.
Where I live, most factories started shutting down to move to eastern europe, which must have a very high efficiency. As the eastern european workers’ condition improved, their efficiency surprisingly dropped, and they started closing the factories there and moved them to China. Now even the chinese are too much, and they’re moving to Vietnam. Unfortunately, it will take quite a bit before they run out of countries full of “efficient workers” to exploit.
This situation is hard to take since manufacturing makes up a small fraction of the price of the finished product, compared to development & research costs and materials.
/rant
“Just goes to show how much cost pressure there really is in this industry. It was only 8 or so years ago when they shut down the manuf. plant in Dallas to move it to Mexico for the very same reason.”
The factory in Dallas (wasn’t that actually in Ft. Worth… at the Alliance Airport business park or something to that sort?) was closed because pretty much all of the phones produced there were heading for South America. And with plants in Manaus and Reynosa, there wasn’t much point in producing phones in the US any longer.
The only factory that has been shut down for monetary reasons was the one in Bochum, Germany. And even that one was shut down because the capacity was so low that the factory would have needed a major rebuild, but it was deemed a better idea to shift the production to Komarom and to set up a new plant at Cluj.
My made-in-Finland E7 had host of mechanical problems. So much for superior quality.. On the other hand, why should Elop care about Finish jobs? He only cares about Canadian jobs, shifting all the Nokia patents to Canadian patent troll, contracting a Canadian firm for App development etc. A truly loyal person (both to his home country and his home company)
To show respect for the layed-off workers, no more Nokias for me!
Good sentiment. hopefully it will spread. Companies that betray their workers and loyal customers in this way should feel the consequences of their actions.
Of course, such boycotts will simply speed up the demise of Nokia (which is inevitable by this time). Let it serve as a warning and a lesson for other companies to adhere to certain principles, as well as to think more of their future.
“Good sentiment. hopefully it will spread.”
And that’s you in a nutshell, isn’t it? You’re not a Nokia fan at all and you probably never were.
Why are you even here, zorg? Why really? Who is paying YOU to spread this constant negativity and hate?
That sad thing is that the answer to that one is ‘no-one’. You’re doing this all on your own as part of some misguided crusade.
Ugh. Just… ugh.
I simply enjoy dipping you and your MS colleagues into your own pile of garbage that you leave here every day. It’s not a crusade so much as an information war, and you know it.
You try to justify the predatory practices of your employers by calling white black, black white and feigning blindness when proven wrong, time and time again. I’m here to call you out on it, that’s all. No hard feelings, just business, as your kind likes to say.
thats a roundabout way of saying i want to troll the shit out of you no?
Speaking the truth is considered trolling now, eh?
Perhaps you’re better off closing this site off to any anti-Elop/WP/MS comments and, like StefanP said, masturbating at the Nokia (Microsoft) logo.
I’ve a feeling you’d like that.
Speaking the truth is not trolling.
However, trolling is trolling and that’s what you seem to do, perhaps, 90% of the time.
trolling again! nice!
So this should be a private Nokia club? Masturbating in front of the Nokia logo, eh?
I liked Nokia as it used to be, with Jorma Ollila as CEO. They used to have great products and were innovative. But being too self-contented and arrogant is exactly what killed their power of innovation. What they need is _critical_ friends. And I hope there is place here for critical voices as well. The probability that this makes any difference is very small, but to read “You are not a Nokia fan? Piss off!” is really disgusting!
Disgusting, it’s true. But oh so Apple-like!
And remember, they are trying to emulate Apple now, down to even such trivial things as fanboy arrogance.
Hey Dr_Zorg.
What would you do? Look ahead for the future of the company and the other 100,000 in your work force or slowly make sure that inevitably no one has a job by not taking the measures needed?
Perhaps there’s another way. Please do explain.
As has been mentioned numerous times and has been proven by company expenses reports, actual expenditure on assembly is far less than the cost of materials and R&D.
I strongly believe that Nokia, in its current state, can easily sustain their European factories AND the ones elsewhere in the world.
In fact, the market for smartphones is growing and Nokia should be expecting to sell MORE in the future not less. As they are, to the best of my knowledge.
Closing the factories here and subcontracting to Foxconn serves no other purposes than
a) destroying Nokia R&D and testing facilities in order to better manipulate the company and prevent it from extricating itself from MS on their own
b) eliminating the vocal part of Nokia workforce who might want to affect Nokia decisions by strikes etc.
c) reducing the power of European technology across the globe, MS being a US company and jealous of Nokia success
d) filling the pockets of BoD and Elop with some spare change
This is standard American corporate practice, look at almost all their other huge companies and you can see the resemblance in how they do business.
Yes, there is another way.
1) Make N9, Symbian AND Lumia available across all continents and all countries. They should be selling as much as they can EVERYWHERE, not in “selected markets”
2) Invest in software development instead of scrapping it. Microsoft is notoriously slow with their software, and besides their recent history with Nokia makes their position ambiguous to say the least.
3) KEEP A HOLD ON THOSE PATENTS and do NOT sell them to 3rd party, who will then re-sell them elsewhere. This, if anything, is a SURE revenue stream which Elop has thrown away.
Jay, you are yourself posting all these news. Are you trying to tell me that even now, a year later, you still refuse to see that what Elop is doing is hurting Nokia and benefiting ONLY Microsoft?
I’m not sure what I can explain if you choose not to see the facts.
By the way, that revenue stream from patents can easily pay the salaries of that 100,000 workforce alone.
Throwing it away?
I hope you can see here that the welfare of those other 100,000 workers is the LEAST of Elop’s concerns.
+1 well said.
It’s so obvious that Elop and co., is working for the best interest of Nokia.
/s
…Oh, and Jay, sorry, but also no more MyNokiaBlog. And i didn’t get the Belle update, despite the fact i live in goddamn EU!!!!
so its jays fault for all those? o.0
gee. reading all this comments is tiring.
@dr.zorg, thanks for the concern, but samsung just opened its 4th factory in my country recently, and thanks to all the foreign investment that came and the technology transfer that came with it, there is more than one local phone manufacturer in my country, one of which manufactures oem products for the whole globe.
Prior to this, my country was little more than a giant mining field for resources.
Now, there is a factory for WD, seagate, R&D center for intel in my nation.
and this is after its golden age, where it was once the main manufacturer for alot of electronic components.
That’s fine and dandy and props to Samsung.
What’s not fine is that you seem to think it justified to take jobs away from Europeans and give them to Asians.
Building a NEW plant in Asia and paying Asians decent salary = good.
Closing plants down in Europe, thus impoverishing Europeans during recession and lack of jobs, and exploiting the Asian poor for dirt cheap labour at the same time for the sake of profit = bad.
Exploiting? if nokia is doing so seriously, spread the word. I’ll help.
and if nokia is doing what nokia is saying it does, ethical bla bla, its helping the people there by you know protecting them from “slavery”
about the factories being closed down… owh well. i cant say its good, but job prospects over there must be way better than the hell hole that is asia right?
Job conditions, are better.
Job prospects? No.
It’s easier to get a job (any kind of job) in Asia.
It’s far harder to get a job (any kind of job) in Europe.
And once again, Nokia subcontracts the Lumia line to Foxconn. Foxconn exploits their workers. It’s not Nokia’s own factory.
its better to be a beggar than to be a slave.
of course there is alot of jobs in asia, you know, the ones where either you are a slaver, or you are the slave. And i know there is always openings for slaves. Everyday!
huh, about the foxconn part, really? can you show me the link please? all the while i though it was compal that made the device.
Here is something else for you to read while I look for the Foxconn link.
http://www.sttk.fi/en-gb/readnews/news/nokia-pays-most-of-its-employees-in-india-well-below-a-living-wage
Here’s proof that Foxconn is at least a Nokia contractor in India:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46373138/IMF-Letter-to-Nokia-Stephen-Elop-Foxconn-India
And here is something fresh about Foxconn China:
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20120110000064&cid=1103
Just to be precise, the letter is proof that Foxconn WAS a Nokia contractor back in 2010. Whether they still are: possibly (perhaps likely), but this letter does not, as far as I can tell, prove it.
Why would a company that was a contractor of cheap labour in 2010 and is moving to be even more so in 2012 break off their contracts?
It would be against their policy and, as you said, it’s likely they are still under contract with them.
Besides, contracts such as this are not made for a season or a year. They are long-term partnerships.
Well, they also have a policy sited by Jay above so it certainly is not impossible that they would have moved to other contractors.
Given how much negative press (rightly so it seems) around Foxconn there is it would seem – setting all more human reasons aside – like a smart corporate risk mitigation move to limit/stop using them as a supplier if other suppliers could meet the demand.
Anyway, my point was simply to note that the letter was from 2010.
When the n9 was released in china it was all, PEOPLE THERE ARE POOR!!!! 40% EARN LESS THAN 1$ OMG HOW THEY BUY NOKIA N9!
now when they shift factory to china, its CHINA IS ONE OF TEH RICHEST! THEY RICH AND ALOT OF MONEZ! YOU IS STEAL POOR EAST EUROPEAN JOBS!
sorry for the lolcatz ref. =D
How old are you? You can’t make a distinction.between people and government? I said China, not the Chinese. China is filthy rich, the majority of Chinese are dirt poor. Get the defference, or should I elaborate further?
did you know that the middle class of china is bigger than the pop of us?
and yup, china is pretty damn rich, but what you are saying is its not doing anything to help its people. again, thats very strong statement you are making. and i think bring in foreign investment to help its people is… helping its people?
But why isn’t China itself investing in its people? I see it profiting heavily, yes. But how about following up on those labour laws that they make and do not follow? The rich strata of China are simply afraid of losing the revenue and bribe stream from the West if they start to enforce those laws, because that would increase costs somewhat and in this penny-pinching economy the Western companies might well decide to move to another, “friendlier” country.
Once again, the Asians should first and foremost help themselves. I can understand that countries like US, UK, France, Germany may actually owe it (though for how long?) to Asia to invest for all the riches they stole in the past century or two.
But Finland had nothing to do with colonies and does not need to throw away their money elsewhere. We have enough poor even here that are in need of support and jobs.
In other words, make your own rich elite invest into your countries. Why expect foreigners to do more than your own people?
Nobody forced anybody to invest in asia. seriously.
being competitive is not wrong.
honestly, all this have nothing to do with nokia at all. its a major rant against what i dont know. all i know its not in the right place. so i will stop replying after this.
Easy for you to say. Not so easy for us in Finland. We have lost and are losing thousands of jobs. For a country with only 5 million population it is a huge blow.
So yes, it’s better you stop replying as you simply do not undestand nor care about the implications.
so why should i buy a nokia?
own os? – no, thanks to elop
manufactured in europe? – no, thanks to elop
the next usp’s nokia is going to loose:
*green production
*social responsibility
so the process of destroying nokia goes on.
this decision to close factories is typical elop. he will reduce and cost cut nokia until the company is nothing worth. but this decision shows how weak he is. got some applause for that from analysts?
Most of you are talking about salvery condition in Asia, but nobody is thinking of those who will lost his/her work. Things aren’t rosy in South America for example.
I always was proud of Nokia because they have factories around the globe, and not following the “Asia workforce cost pennies” game.
But well this part of the new Nokia, lets see what’s ahead.
Why think of them? They’re in the past! We’re looking into the bright and rosy future, with rivers of milk and fields of daffodils and dandelions.
Whoever is left by the wayside isn’t worth the trouble of stopping to check their pulse. That’s the American business way.
the history of Nokia is coming to an end.
Soon Nokia will come back to making galoshes.
I own n9 and this is most probably my last Nokia.
some repeated info but it’s about Nokia risking it all for Microsoft.
http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-weve-nowhere-to-go-but-windows-phone-08212613/
Dr. Zorg doesn’t care about Asians.
Nokia didn’t calculate the situation in a way that beat other companies. In the US specially my cousins and all my friends want android or Apple. They used to have Nokia but they changed to these two because Nokia didn’t pay attention to us.Me and my family have Nokia phones and we stick with them. We have n8 e7 x7 and n9. The phones are very good but the people just hate the ignorance of Nokia. But today nokia is trying to get it’s position like before and I hope they will. Good Luck
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