Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs as assembly moves to Asia

Nokia is to cut another 4,000 jobs as it announced plans to end smartphone assembly in Europe and shift production to Asia.

Jobs will be lost at plants in Finland, Mexico and Hungary this year as part of a reorganisation of its smartphone manufacturing operations, the company said in a statement, although the factories will not close.

The Finnish company is struggling to regain its former position as the world's biggest mobile manufacturer after losing ground to Apple’s iPhones and smartphones which run on Google’s Android operating system.

Wednesday's cuts come on top of nearly 10,000 layoffs announced last year.

"Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive," said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president, Markets.

Last month Nokia reported widening fourth-quarter net losses of €1.07bn (£897m), against a €745m profit in same period of 2010, as its new Windows-based smartphones failed to offset the decline in sales of its traditional handsets, and revenues slumped by 21pc.