Nokia to close two China offices as part of restructuring plan

As part of a restructuring plan, Nokia will shut down two of its four regional sales offices in China in order to better deal with their presence in the smartphone market. According to the Wall Street Journal, Chengdu and Shanghai offices will be closed while operations in Beijing and Guangzhou will be expanded. Job cuts will definitely be a part of the restructuring, and as many as 10,000 jobs may be eliminated globally.

The reorganization comes as a result of market share gains by both Apple's iPhone and Samsung devices, which resulted in another quarterly loss for the fourth time in a row. Nokia had shipped over 2 million Lumina smartphones running the Windows Phone OS in the first quarter globally, while Apple had shipped over 35.1 million iPhones.

Remaining committed to Windows Phone, others running Android has been moving in on Nokia's market share. If the company wants to pull itself back up on its feet, a strong presence in both China and Norther American markets will be necessary. Samsung is currently the global leader in smartphones, but other Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have been moving on in, making it all the more difficult for Nokia to compete.

[via Bloomberg]