Our continued reporting on Nokia’s latest moves has gotten the vendor’s attention. Yesterday, James Blackman noted the “awkward” timing of the company’s simultaneous European reductions and increased U.S. investment. “[It] raises questions, perhaps, when considered with parallel EU calls in Germany and France, where it is cutting jobs, for home-made sovereign EU infrastructure,” he wrote.
Well, today, Nokia is pushing back against this criticism, telling RCR Wireless News that the reductions in France and Germany are part of a long-planned cost-savings program (announced in 2023) and do not undermine its standards work or regional commitment.
The vendor also said: “Both the U.S. and Europe are critical markets for our business and a strategic base for R&D and manufacturing. We are a major innovator and invested over €4.5 billion in R&D last year alone, and our R&D footprint is truly global. … New investments in the U.S. complement our wider R&D network, including major technology centers in Europe, such as our new R&D campus and factory in Oulu, Finland.”
I’d say you can expect to hear more from James on all of this, so keep an eye out — for now, though, it appears Nokia wants to reframe its moves as global rebalancing, not a regional retreat. Still, with layoffs and investment headlines arriving days apart, the scrutiny over where the company is truly anchoring its future isn’t likely to fade.
Catherine Sbeglia Nin
Managing Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
“Our R&D is global” — Nokia responds to criticism: Nokia has pushed back against criticism of its European job cuts and U.S. investment drive, insisting reductions in France and Germany are part of a long-planned cost-savings program.
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