By Chelsey Dulaney
Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it would cut up to 7,800
jobs and take a $7.6 billion write-down on its Nokia business as it
works to restructure its struggling phone hardware business.
Microsoft said it also would take a restructuring charge of $750
million to $850 million.
Microsoft had warned recently that it planned to cut costs at
its smartphone business and other hardware units. Its struggling
Nokia unit was targeted for thousands of job cuts in the biggest
layoffs in Microsoft's history, announced last year.
Microsoft's more than $9 billion purchase of Nokia Corp.'s
handset business--a deal struck by Chief Executive Satya Nadella's
predecessor Steve Ballmer in late 2013--was supposed to make
Microsoft a relevant player in smartphones. Instead, the company's
Windows smartphones lost market share and bled red ink.
In June, Microsoft reshuffled its executive ranks, the latest
sign that it is hitting the reset button on its smartphone hardware
business. The moves included the departure of former Nokia chief
Stephen Elop.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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