Nokia, the world’s leading cellphone maker, plans to lay off about 4,000 workers at its plants in Hungary, Mexico and Finland and outsource to Asia to speed up its products delivery, according to local media reports.
Citing market sources, the reports said Nokia’s new business strategy could benefit Taiwanese companies in its supply chain, such as Hon Hai Group, Compal Communications Inc. and Arima Communications.
Meanwhile, media reports said Microsoft Corp. will launch its Windows 8 consumer preview at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona late this month. And while it may seem a bit strange to release a PC operating system at an event focused on phones and tablets, market sources said Windows 8 isn’t just about desktops and laptops.
Taiwanese PC industry executives generally agree that Win8 launch, probably in late 2012 or early 2013, will help revive the PC industry which has been struggling to regain market dominance amid intense competition from Apple’s Macbook Air and iPad, media reports said.
The following are excerpts from local media coverage of the possible effects of Nokia’s massive layoff plan and Microsoft’s upcoming Win8 consumer preview:
United Daily News:
Nokia announced two days ago that it plans to cut about 4,000 jobs at its three plants, or 8 percent of its total global staff. It will be the Finland-based conglomerate’s largest-scale lay-off move to date.
In the future, the company will outsource its assembling work to Asia, which would allow the company to develop even closer cooperation with its supply chian partners and accelerate launch of its mobile products.
Hon Hai’s share price surged substantially on Wednesday following Nokia’s announcement of job cut plan.
Compal Communications Inc. (CCI) successfully forayed into Nokia’s supply chain last year. Market analysts said CCI’s 2012 sales may nearly double its 2011 volume to hit 9.6 million units and unit price would also post a 15 to 20 percent gain.
According to statistics released Wednesday, CCI’s January sales reached NT$4.548 billion, up 442.67 percent from the amount recorded in the same month of last year.
Other Taiwanese high-end components suppliers, including metal-casing maker Catcher Technology Co. and camera lens maker Largan Precision, will also benefit from Nokia’s new Asian outsourcing plan. (Feb. 10, 2012).
Economic Daily News:
Microsoft has choosen a special day — Leap Day –for its special event: the official unveiling of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
The software giant has begun seeding invites for its exclusive event in Barcelona, Spain, where the Mobile World Congress trade show is also being held.
PC industry analysts said that if all goes well, Win8 could be formally launched late this year or in early 2013.
Taiwanese major PC makers such as Acer, Asus, Quanta and Compal will benefit from Win8 launch, they added.
Source: Focus Taiwan
