Nokia Slashes R&D in Japan
Nokia slashes 220 R&D jobs in Japan – Our kindest regards to the good folks in Meguro – Press Release
After a 1-year grace period from the Nov. 2008 announcement that Nokia would exit commercial operations in Japan, the remaining R&D labs are gone now too. According to the details release today their high-end Vertu handset line-up will continue to be available via the Ginza shop.
Tokyo, Japan – As part of its global efforts to align its research and development (R&D) operations to be in line with its focused portfolio of future products, Nokia will be reducing its R&D activities in Japan. As previously announced last week, Nokia plans to reduce some of its R&D activities in Finland and Denmark.
Today’s announcement will impact approximately 220 employees in Japan. The total number would represent slightly more than 1% of Nokia’s R&D personnel globally.
Nokia will continue its significant sourcing activities in Japan. Japanese manufacturers are important partners who play a critical role in Nokia’s global supply-chain strategy and with whom Nokia continues to develop its world-class logistics operations.
The Japanese operation of Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia’s network infrastructure business, is not affected by this announcement and continues uninterrupted.
Vertu, Nokia’s exclusive line of handcrafted mobile phones for the luxury market, will also continue operations in Japan unaffected by today’s announcement.