Microsoft targets mobile phone unit as 7800 more jobs go

“I am committed to our first party devices, including phones”, said Nadella in am email to Microsoft employees. In the proposed deal, Microsoft will operate more effectively and focus on smartphone business, and at the same time retaining the capacity for long-term reinvention in the mobile technology. Microsoft said last July that it would slash up to 18,000 jobs. Unfortunately, it is what has happened- Microsoft has announced a major round of layoffs, in which it will be getting rid of as many as 7,800 people from its workforce around the world.

AOL previously used Google to power its search engine.

Microsoft didn’t offer much in the way of details on the job cuts, such as geographies and job functions affected, other than to identify Windows Phone hardware as the target for most of the position losses.

He also acknowledged that Microsoft would revamp its smartphone strategy.

A majority of the latest layoffs will be outside Microsoft’s headquarters, most of it in Finland, where Nokia was originally based.

The company counts 1.5 billion as Windows customers spanning 190 countries, but its devices business, particularly, smartphones, failed to gain market share both in India and globally.

Windows Phones have captured less than 3 percent of the smartphone market.

A Microsoft statement said it would “restructure the company’s phone hardware business to better focus and align resources”.

Nadella in his email also added that the company has written down the value of the phone business acquired from Nokia, “We announced a fundamental restructuring of our phone business”.

Microsoft now has about 118,000 employees worldwide. The company will be releasing Windows 10 on mobile as part of the roll out for the new operating system.

➤ Microsoft announces restructuring of phone hardware business [Microsoft].

Although still strong in the software market for personal computers, the company is faces strong competition in the fight to establish its mobile handset operation. The Microsoft CEO told employees in a companywide letter last month that there were “tough choices” ahead for the company.

The company’s retrenchment in smartphones comes as Nadella, who became chief executive a year ago, has been pulling Microsoft back from initiatives outside its core mission.