Mobile phone major Nokia is moving its Asia-Pacific
headquarters to Beijing from Singapore as part of plans to raise business
efficiencies and meet savings targets.

 

The move is part of our strategy to adapt our operations
to the business environment to ensure our competitiveness. This includes an
increasing focus on assembly in Asia, close to our suppliers,” a Nokia
spokesman said Wednesday in an emailed response to queries from Dow Jones Newswires.

 

Nokia is currently implementing the move, which forms
part of plans to realign its business and cut costs. But the spokesman declined
to specify how many employees would be affected by the move, what types of
positions are being shifted, or if any jobs would be cut.

 

The company will continue operations at its Singapore
office, the spokesman added.

 

Nokia, which has seen its market share plummet in recent
years on rising competition from Apple iPhone and Google’s Android operating
platform, last year announced restructuring plans that involved cutting more
than 10,000 jobs in manufacturing, and research and development

 

According
to IDC, Nokia shipped 106.6 million phones in Q3 2011 to gain market share of 27.1
percent as compared to 110.4 million shipped in Q3 2010 with a market share of
31.6 percent. The second largest phone maker Samsung is coming closer to Nokia.
Samsung shipped 87.8 million phones in Q3 2011 with market share of 22.3
percent. In Q3 2010, Samsung’s market share was 20.5 percent with shipments of
71.4 million phones.

 

Nokia posted
13 percent decrease year-on-year in its net sales in Q3 2011. Nokia net sales
include income from Nokia devices, Navteq and Nokia Siemens Networks. Nokia’s
net sales declined to EUR 8,980 million in Q3 2011 from EUR 10,270 million in
Q3 2011. Nokia Siemens Networks contributed EUR 3,413 million in Q3 2011 with a
16 percent growth to Nokia’s net sales.

 

Nokia’s devices business saw its net sales plummeting by
25 percent at EUR 5,392 million in Q3 2011 from EUR 7,173 million in Q3 2010.
All business segments under Nokia devices posted negative growth in Q3 2011.
Smart devices business of Nokia reported -39 percent growth at EUR 2,206
million in Q3 2011 in Q3 2011 from EUR 3,612 million. Nokia sold 16.8 million
smart devices in Q3 2011 as compared with 27.1 million units in Q3 2010.

 

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]