It's a solemn day at Nokia, as the Finnish phone flogger is selling fancy phone-brand Vertu, and plans on cutting 10,000 jobs.
Vertu is being sold off to a private equity group EQT, reportedly for around €200m Euros (about £162m). The Church Cookham-based luxury brand builds phones from extremely expensive materials, and some even offer a concierge service. None of that has stopped the phones themselves being decidedly rubbish, however.
Meanwhile, Nokia has pledged to cut 10,000 jobs by the end of next year, with several high-level execs stepping down. Boss Stephen Elop called the cuts "difficult consequences of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength".
Nokia used to rule the roost when it came to mobiles, but advances from the likes of Apple and Samsung knocked our favourite Finns off the top spot. Nokia clung to its Symbian operating system as other manufacturers adopted Android, eventually joining forces with Microsoft to produce Windows Phone-powered Lumia smart phones.
I think that was a smart move -- gadgets like the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 are some of the best smart phones out there, and Windows Phone is a much more attractive operating system than Symbian. The question is whether that transition came too late.
Nokia's not giving up on its Microsoft-powered phones. "We intend to pursue an even more focused effort on Lumia," Elop said.
The Nokia boss, formerly of Microsoft, also said the company plans to place "increased emphasis on our location-based services". By which it means navigation software like Nokia Drive, and 'visual search' apps like the augmented reality Nokia City Lens.
What do you think Nokia needs to do to improve its fortunes? Let me know in the comments.
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