After being rumored for the past couple of days and as is routine for Microsoft, the software giant has announced its latest wave of job cuts following the purchase of a company, with the newly integrated Nokia Hardware and Services division being the latest to face Microsoft’s axe. The new division, now known as the Microsoft Devices Group will face the brunt of the job cuts, with 18,000 positions being eliminated util the end of the year, while other Microsoft divisions face their own job cuts.
The job cuts follow new CEO Satya Nadella’s internal memo detailing his desire to move the company away from delivering bundled hardware and software, which was the focus of former CEO Steve Ballmer and moving the company towards cross-platform productivity applications and services, with a new focus on its Azure cloud computing platform and cross-platform cloud storage being integrated with Office, among other initiatives that de-emphasize the need for focusing on dedicated hardware to deliver its software and suite of services.
As a result of the job cuts, the division will now be solely focused on the Lumia Windows Phone lineup in terms of hardware development, with the post-purchase, pre-integration Android-powered Nokia X platform and hardware being killed off in terms of further development or releases, including the previously teased X2. All existing Nokia X hardware will continue to be supported and sold for the foreseeable future with future Nokia X designs being repurposed for even lower-cost Windows Phone powered Lumia devices, but the Nokia X support is expected to end at some point within the next 18-24 months, including developer support.
