Microsoft lays off another 2,850 in phones, sales

Microsoft is laying off another 2,850 people in both its smartphone hardware business and global sales, according to a Thursday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC document states that the layoffs were in addition to the 1,850 positions that were eliminated last May. In restructuring plans announced at that time, Microsoft stated it was aiming to streamline the company's smartphone hardware business. Microsoft's bid to get into the handset business by paying $7.6 billion for Nokia was an expensive failure.



Last May, Microsoft announced it was selling its phone business to Finnish company HMD and Foxconn subsidiary FIH Mobile for $350 million. This includes the rights to brand phones with the Nokia name. The company stated it will still support Windows 10 Mobile and Lumia smartphones running that operating system.
Of the 1,850 employees laid off last May, most were from Microsoft's Mobile Oy facility in Finland, where Nokia phones were developed and manufactured.
The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2017.