Nokia has announced that a sale of its Espoo, Finland HQ has gone through, which will see the manufacturer pocket €170 million ($222 million). The Finnish handset maker, which is focusing on Windows Phone development, will remain as tenant at the location, as we previously speculated when reports began to surface earlier this year.
The cost-saving move is an expected step for struggling Nokia to take, especially when taking into account the financial situation the company is currently in. While Nokia has taken measures to cap expenditure, including the closure of factories, at least employees will remain at the base of operations, which has been utilised since 1997. Timo Ihamuotila, CFO at Nokia, had the following to add to the announcement:
"We had a comprehensive sales process with both Finnish and foreign investors and we are very pleased with this outcome. As we have said before, owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets. We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis."
The Lumia 920 is believed to have sold well since it launched, and is available in numerous markets (though limited stock warnings are continuing to be published by retailers and carriers). Until the next financial report is released we can only carry on speculating how the company is performing, as well as its highly rated flagship Windows Phone.
It's a good sign Nokia is taking measures to remain in business. Windows Phone desperately requires the marketing power Nokia invests into its products, just as much as the company requires advances made to Microsoft's mobile platform, now that it has thrown all eggs into a single basket. If the positive reception displayed by both consumers and companies is anything to go by, we could well be seeing a stronger Nokia in 2013.
Source: Engadget
