Nokia to cut 4,000 jobs, move manufacturing to Asia

[tawadi]

Nokia to cut 4,000 jobs, move manufacturing to Asia

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

February 8, 2012, 8:41 a.m.

Nokia is cutting 4,000 jobs and will end its manufacturing in Hungary, Mexico and its home nation of Finland as it moves its phone making to Asia, the company announced Wednesday.

The Salo, Finland, factory, which is Nokia's oldest manufacturing plant, along with the affected facilities in Komarom, Hungary, and Reynosa, Mexico, won't be shut down entirely, Nokia said.

Instead, the "three factories are planned to focus on smartphone customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas," Nokia said in a statement. "Device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based."

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-nokia-to-cut-400-jobs-as-manufacturing-moves-to-asia-20120208,0,203314.story?track=rss

[Auggie]

1. Good news for the U.S., I guess -- it isn't losing any jobs.

[tawadi]

2. Thought it was interesting how the trend has spread to Europe

I was shocked Europe allows off shoring too.

[dotymed]

21. Thers are a few hundred

"people" who control this world. They have brought "the bastion of Democracy" to ruin and are now destroying European countries, all for greed. Their "foresight" and hubris lead them to believe that they will have absolute complete dominion on earth. If everyone would stop and realize that they are only able to do this because we allow them to. We, humanity could stop them in a day. We are divided and until we unite, worldwide, it wil only get worse.

[Skittles]

29. yup

I had someone in Brazil complain to me that "their work" was being sent to Asia - I pointed out to him that "their work" was originally pimped off to Brazil from AMERICA

[SaintPete]

3. Interesting - the two (and only) pieces of news I've heard from Finland

1. Finland just elected a Conservative President for the first time in 30 years
2. Nokia moves all its Finland manufacturing to Asia.

Is there a causality? Don't know...but interesting?

[tawadi]

4. Very interesting. eom

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. There Is Causality

There is causality. The RW is not just active in the US. Our tea baggers and RW billionaires have operatives all over the planet. Reactionary RW politics has targeted Europe as well. The fact that so many European countries now have conservatives in power is direct evidence of underground political activity. Murdock owns a lot of European media. He owns even a lot more in England.

When you hear RW Republicans using the "European Socialist" code in their speeches it is more than just speech. They believe in privatization internationally and are active in pursuing that goal. The problem is that the voters fail to recognize that every worker is being sold out by the international corporate monster.

The GOP has never liked the fact that Europe had strong labor laws and strong unions that forced multinational corporations to take care of their workers. The attacks have been more aggressive recently. The establishment of the Euro was a way to get control of all the nations in that sector so that the banks and multinationals could end the "welfare state". These austerity measures are all connected to trashing European employment protections. American billionaires like the Kochs, the Coors, Anschutz, et al are involved with these efforts as well. For them and their ilk "the world is not enough". There is an international RW conspiracy that no one will admit exists.

I also read that either the Finland or Swedish RW prime minister believes that 75 should be the retirement age in one of those countries. So Nokia's move is hardly a surprise.

[tawadi]

7. Thank you for your enlightening yet very scary input

I've been wondering the same, but hoping it's not true.

[TheMastersNemesis]

14. Creeping Conservatism

I have been watching creeping conservatism for years. The attempt to weaken Europe's employment and labor system really became apparent during the last years of the Bush administration. And if I remember it right there was a huge rift between England and the US with continental Europe when the G8 conference was held in Denver years ago during Clintons term. GB and the USA had adopted the "trickle down economic model". Continental Europe was not happy about that. Back then most PM's were left left and center left. What caught my attention was the election of conservative PM's in the last few years. I have also seen the growth of RW parties.

The recent RW massacre in Norway was really just more than one person as I read it now. There is something fishy about that whole thing. The perpetrator had reported been to RW conferences sponsored by elements connected to the Koch brothers. How interesting that socialists were attacked. That was the future leaders of Norway. Taking it a step further in the US it seems really likely that there has been an extreme RW conspiracy in the US since the end of WWII. Our business community has viciously hated the labor laws and unions in Europe. They are actively taking down those institutions while they cover their bloody hands very well. Many Europeans seem to be taken by surprise. We can ignore it but people like the Koch's intend to install a "flat earth" economy that only benefits their kind. They constantly use the excuse of high cost and will not be happy until all workers are working for slave wages.

How interesting the we have two assassinated Kennedys, and assassinated or marginalized black leaders like MLK and Eldridge Cleaver. Nothing has really been actually resolved about who was behind these killings. My take is that deep forces in the RW were really the responsible ones. There has been an attack on anyone who is liberal. That is why I do not take the eliminationist rhetoric now flowing seriously.

The RW is very Stalinist in a many ways. They are guilty of what they accuse the left wing of.

[tawadi]

23. Some interesting theories

I very much hope you are wrong, but who knows? Greed is a powerful motivator.

[pampango]

16. "The establishment of the Euro was a way to get control of all the nations in that sector so that

the banks and multinationals could end the "welfare state".'

I don't agree. The most anti-Euro, anti-EU parties are on the right and the far-right, not on the left.

The establishment of the Euro was a liberal attempt to bring Europe closer together, just like the creation of the EU. One could argue that the Euro was not introduced with enough planning on how to integrate diverse economies into a common currency zone, but it was a continuation of the liberal goal of an open, peaceful and prosperous continent.

The rest of your post I heartily agree with. The RW never rests.

[stockholmer]

27. it was fucking Fredrik Reinfeldt, here in Sweden, and he is catching HELL for it

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/us-sweden-pension-idUSTRE81618X20120207

http://www.thelocal.se/38958/20120207/

http://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/fler-maste-kunna-byta-karriar-mitt-i-livet

Han är djävla idiot!

[DUIC]

11. Nokia's woes began years ago

Nokia was always the dominant player in Europe, butt it never garnered any significant market share in the US. This is due to a variety of factors - hanging on to Symbian for far too long, neglecting the US market, and high Western European manufacturing costs. The only road ahead for Nokia was this path.

[SaintPete]

17. Not just the dominant player in Europe, but in the world

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1764714

I question why the #1 Cell Phone manufacturer in the world is having such woes...Even if Nokia only has 1% of the US market, they must be selling like the Finnish equivalent of hot cakes everywhere else.

[DUIC]

25. Cell Phones do not equal smart phones

The profit margins on an iphone is greater than the margins on the core of Nokia products. When you are making razor thin margins...

[pampango]

18. He doesn't assume office until March 1 and doesn't have that much power in Finland.

The first round of the presidential election was held in Finland. The first round took place on 22 January 2012, with advance voting from 11–17 January; and the second round occurred from 25–31 January. The elected candidate's term will begin on 1 March 2012 and last until 2018.

Power of the president

The President's powers were curtailed in the constitutional reform in 2000, and yet further in 2011. Currently the President leads the Finnish foreign policy together with the cabinet. EU affairs, however, fall to the Prime Minister's authority. The President has little domestic power. He or she can dissolve the parliament, but only at the Prime Minister's request. The President can choose not to ratify a bill, but this only returns it to parliament, which must then approve the bill again in order for it to become a law without the President's signature. The President's power to appoint officials has been reduced, but he or she still appoints all military officers as well as judges. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces. The President also has the power to pardon anyone convicted of a crime.

With the curtailment of the President's formal powers, many analysts have emphasized the President's position as a leader of values.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_presidential_election,_2012

[onehandle]

5. The majority of Nokia's manufacturing is already in Asia. With Foxconn and others.

These jobs were about 'assembly' which is less than 10% of the production of any cell phone.

[tawadi]

8. 4,000 jobs sounds like a lot to me. eom

[Vincardog]

12. Since they will be assembling components manufactured locally (To them)

it appears that a lot more than 10% of the production is happening in Asia.

[Justice wanted]

9. This headline can be looked at as tricky. IF that is how it was posted in the LA TIMES than you

are going to have wing nuts assuming it is happening here in the states.

[tawadi]

10. That is how the headline reads

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-nokia-to-cut-400-jobs-as-manufacturing-moves-to-asia-20120208,0,203314.story?track=rss

[Justice wanted]

15. That's sad. I know some wingnuts who just read a headline and know the WHOLE story.

[tawadi]

22. Well, we would hope they can read

But maybe not on second thought. lol

[Justice wanted]

24. Well they do need the bare understanding of reading so they can get the talking points from

murdock owned papers.

[Blue_Tires]

13. foxconn again?

[onehandle]

20. Foxconn (and other Chinese manufacturers) already make 90%+ of the components.

Assembly, which typically is less than 10% of production, is now moving to China.

[DFW]

19. Nokia has been looking for major cost-cutting for years. It didn't always work.

They took advantage of the expanded European Union several years ago, and closed their major factory in Central
Europe in Bochum, Germany, which was known for turning out high-quality products. They fired all the workers and relocated to Romania, which now posed no customs problems, being within the EU, and far cheaper labor than Germany. But Nokia got what they paid for: the Romanian labor was cheaper, but far less skilled. A good third of the phones turned out by the Romanian factory were were unsalable, they were so defective. They soon closed their Romanian assembly plant, and planned to move its operations to Asia.

[supernova]

26. Mexico isn't cheap enough anymore?

[tawadi]

28. Might be another reason

Drug cartels and increased violence maybe.. I don't know for certain.