Nokia sells Vertu and is preparing to lay off 10 thousand employees

Nokia is still trying to get out of the losing streak and made some tough decisions about what to do next, announcing that it will fire 10 thousand people by the end of 2013, reports Engadget. This is part of a plan to close factories in Finland, Germany and Canada, as well as reorienting its marketing efforts, streamlining support staff and reducing non-core assets.

In addition, three executives will be dismissed: marketing director Jerry Deward, executive vice president of mobile phones Mary McDowell and executive vice president of markets Nicklas Savander will leave the management team on 30 June. Starting July 1, they will be replaced by Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones Timo Toikkanen, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Chris Weber and Senior Vice President of Communications Susan Sheehan.

Nokia has also sold its luxury brand Vertu to a private stock company EQT VI. The transaction will be completed in the second half of the year, leaving 10 percent of the company in Nokia’s hands. This is not the end of the bad news: Nokia will allocate 1 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) by the end of 2013 for restructuring and efforts to return to profitability. At the same time, despite all the financial difficulties, Nokia bought the Swedish company Scalado, which supplies technologies for the camera industry on smartphones. Nokia wants to use Scalado technology to enhance its Lumia phones.