Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia’s decision to close that factory in Bochum, Germany and move its operations to a cheaper site in Romania might lower costs in the long run, but for now things seem decidedly in red: Nokia and the German unions who represented the 2,000 laid-off workers at the plant have agreed to a €200M ($314M) settlement, which will probably end the demonstrations and calls for boycotts that have been going on. Of course, that’s on top of the $92M (plus another $6.2M) the German government wants back in grants and tax breaks for subsidizing the plant, but what’s another hundred mil between friends?

[Via Textually.org; image courtesy of Reuters]

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Filed under: Gaming

Aside from planning to axe 400 jobs as part of Sega Sammy’s most recent “turnaround efforts,” the outfit will also be closing the doors to its Korean subsidiary. Currently, Sega Korea is “handling the domestic distribution and sales of video game software, as well as the operation / sales of amusement facilities and machines,” and reportedly, the closure will be executed in the name of “global business optimization.” As it stands, there’s no set date for the branch’s dissolution, but just in case your smile wasn’t turned upside-down already, the company also stated that it would discontinue the development of a ginormous $330m arcade complex slated for construction in Yokohama, Japan — if you couldn’t guess, that one’s being shuttered so the firm can “focus its efforts on its core business to improve its performance” in short order. Seriously though, what the hell kind of company would spend $330m on arcade, anyway?

[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]

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Filed under: Gaming

Aside from planning to axe 400 jobs as part of Sega Sammy’s most recent “turnaround efforts,” the outfit will also be closing the doors to its Korean subsidiary. Currently, Sega Korea is “handling the domestic distribution and sales of video game software, as well as the operation / sales of amusement facilities and machines,” and reportedly, the closure will be executed in the name of “global business optimization.” As it stands, there’s no set date for the branch’s dissolution, but just in case your smile wasn’t turned upside-down already, the company also stated that it would discontinue the development of a ginormous $330m arcade complex slated for construction in Yokohama, Japan — if you couldn’t guess, that one’s being shuttered so the firm can “focus its efforts on its core business to improve its performance” in short order. Seriously though, what the hell kind of company would spend $330m on arcade, anyway?

[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Looks as if Nokia’s going to be using a portion of that gigantic profit it raked in during Q4 to appease NRW.Bank — unless a meeting it hopes to establish within the next few days changes matters, that is. Apparently, a German state has “asked” the handset maker to hand back government-issued subsidies (with interest, no less) that it received to build a cellphone factory in Bochum which it now plans to close. In sum, Nokia’s looking at a tab of $92 million, as the folks in the industrial Ruhr region are none too pleased about what will likely result in the loss of some 2,300 jobs. Purportedly, the cash is due by March 31st, and if Nokia refuses to comply, the bank has stated that it will “take legal action to secure payment.” Them’s fightin’ words there.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Oh Palm, things just seem to be going from bad to worse. After your recent (and repeated) Palm OS II delays and employee layoffs, you really should be due for some good news — but that’s not the case today. According to a member of the TreoCentral forums who cites “sources,” Palm will be folding all but its airport-based retail locations by the end of January. Apparently, other forum members have checked in with their local stores and gotten word from reps there that the doors are indeed shutting, so it seems like this is a go. Palm, we’re not going to say you’re in your darkest hour just yet, but we’re pretty sure you can see it from where you’re standing. C’mon guys — get it together!

[Thanks, Anonymous]

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