Microsoft has let go another 1,800 employees of its Nokia mobile division based in Finland signalling the end is near for the combined smartphone brand.
After first dealing with the Finnish company in 2011 to launch the initial Nokia-made flagship smartphone, the Lumia 800, Microsoft completed its total buyout the mobile maker in 2014 embarking on a steady push into the smartphone market.
It was a push that was in vain, perhaps – a desperate move by Microsoft to throw Windows out into the competitive mobile arena and a chance for Nokia to break away from the stigma of its bulky but unbreakable handsets of the early ‘00s.
But up against established market leaders such as the Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone brands both driven by the widely used Android and iOS respectively, the Windows Phone platform (with rather limited app store) was not as well received as Microsoft might have hoped and the Nokia ‘experiment’ is today sadly deemed as a failure.
Employees affected by the cuts are all from Nokia, which saw 25,000 brought in during the acquisition and it’s reported that most of those originally brought in no longer work for Microsoft due to cuts over recent years.
Microsoft is believed to still be interested in the phone business, and could possibly be launching new models and a new brand in line with its Surface tablets. Nokia Technologies announced last week that it will be taking business back for itself thank to a $500-million multi-year investment from fellow Finnish company HMD global Oy (HMD) with a view to continue making and releasing mobiles globally, separately from Microsoft with handsets running an Android-based OS.
