Nokia has gutted one of its least profitable divisions, the one that sold wireless modems, as it concentrates on its mobile phone business.
The entire division, including 1100 employees, will be transferred over to Renesas Electronics, which purchased the modem business from Nokia for $200 million.
The two already had an existing business relationship. Renesas previously licensed some of Nokia’s modem technology in its own products.
Despite having licensing agreements with multiple other companies, Nokia was losing money on its modem division. That’s because there are other firms that have encroached on the market, and Nokia has more concerns on the phone industry.
Although Nokia is still, by far, the top seller of mobile phones on a global scale, it has lost considerable ground in the US and it is making strides to come back.
The deal should be closed by the end of the year.
