Nokia likely to cut up to 14,000 jobs as global sales decline 20% in Sep quarter; India biz doubles

New Delhi: Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia is planning to cut up to 14,000 jobs to reduce cost as its global sales declined 20 per cent to 4,928 million euro in the September quarter.

The company's business in India more than doubled to 567 million euro (Rs 4,984 crore) during the quarter from 281 million euro (about Rs 2,470 crore) in the year-ago period.

Boost in Indian sales saved the company from the reduced spending in North America and other geographies.

"In mobile networks, net sales declined 19 per cent as we saw some moderation in the pace of 5G deployment in India, which meant the growth was no longer enough to offset the slowdown in North America," Nokia President and CEO Pekka Lundmark said in a statement.

The company sales in North America declined 45 per cent to 1,256 million euro, Greater China by 31 per cent, Europe by 12 per cent, Latin America and Asia Pacific by 21 per cent each.

Lundmark said the company is putting in place a three-tier programme that helps it save costs by 800 million-1 billion euro.

"The programme is expected to result in 72,000-77,000 employee organisation, instead of 86,000 employees Nokia has today. We will execute quickly and expect to at least achieve 400 million euro in a year savings," he said.

Lundmark said the business continued to benefit from 5G deployments in India, where net sales more than doubled year-on-year, but sales volume moderated significantly on a sequential basis as the pace of deployment has started to normalise.

"It is fair to say this quarter has dominated by continued pressure of weaker macro-economic environment and the impact of higher interest rates on operators spending," he said.