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posted by janrinok on Saturday July 30 2016, @12:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the perhaps-they-should-have-asked-Cortana dept.

The job cuts were revealed in paperwork filed on Thursday with US financial watchdog the SEC. The doomed staff will leave the business by the end of next June. They all work in Microsoft's sales teams and its Windows Phone hardware division. [...] We understand 900 people in the global sales unit have already learned of their fate.

As for the latest redundancies, here's the relevant sections of Microsoft's annual 10-K report to the SEC:

In addition to the elimination of 1,850 positions that were announced in May 2016, approximately 2,850 roles globally will be reduced during the year as an extension of the earlier plan, and these actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2017.

As of June 30, 2016, we employed approximately 114,000 people on a full-time basis, 63,000 in the U.S. and 51,000 internationally. Of the total employed people, 38,000 were in operations, including manufacturing, distribution, product support, and consulting services; 37,000 in product research and development; 29,000 in sales and marketing; and 10,000 in general and administration.

While the layoffs affect just 2.5 per cent of Microsoft's workforce, they are very precise and telling cuts: Windows-powered mobiles managed to seize just three per cent of the global smartphone market, and now Redmond is dismantling that failed operation.


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  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday July 30 2016, @04:09AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Saturday July 30 2016, @04:09AM (#381875) Journal

    That doesn't appear to be true. An article from last July said that, based on figures released by the company,

    Microsoft has now sold over 100 million Windows Phone devices since the launch of Windows Phone 7 in 2010.

    http://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-now-sold-100-million-windows-phones/ [mspoweruser.com]

    The aerospace industry comes to mind as one in which items are mass-produced, yet the number of employees often exceeds number of items made.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Saturday July 30 2016, @04:38AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday July 30 2016, @04:38AM (#381880) Journal

    100 million? Where they all retail sales, or were some given away in cereal packets?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by butthurt on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:33AM

      by butthurt (6141) on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:33AM (#381888) Journal

      Neither, I believe. It isn't stated in that article, but elsewhere I read that Microsoft had reported "sales to carriers and to retailers."

      http://www.networkworld.com/article/2197291/smartphones/microsoft-windows-phone-7-sales-top-1-5-million-units-out-of-the-gate.html [networkworld.com]
      http://www.mobilevenue.com/windows-phone-7-sales-figures-announced-12214506/ [mobilevenue.com]

      You seem to be implying, perhaps facetiously, that Microsoft's mobile phones were sold for less than the cost of production, even to the point of being given away en masse. Your implication, I suppose, is that labour savings were had in the marketing and sales departments. Even if that's true, labour was still needed to design the phones, manufacture them, and sell or give them away.

      • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:59AM

        by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:59AM (#381890) Journal

        Microsoft's annual reports will no doubt show (somewehere, in the fine detail) how much each phone cost to manufacture.
        The issue, for me, is how they convinced 100 million people to spend *any* money buying one of the handsets.

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @08:12AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @08:12AM (#381911)

        Neither, I believe. It isn't stated in that article, but elsewhere I read that Microsoft had reported "sales to carriers and to retailers."

        So, they are still sitting on the store shelves?

        I hope they did not ship them with batteries installed... else a lot of phones by now will have a gooey mess where the battery used to be.

        • (Score: 1) by tftp on Saturday July 30 2016, @07:09PM

          by tftp (806) on Saturday July 30 2016, @07:09PM (#382022) Homepage

          I hope they did not ship them with batteries installed

          Microsoft phones don't need a battery :-)

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 31 2016, @05:46AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 31 2016, @05:46AM (#382180)

            Ahh yes.... that was the design that used the string, no?

        • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday July 30 2016, @10:00PM

          by butthurt (6141) on Saturday July 30 2016, @10:00PM (#382074) Journal

          I would assume that, like every other manufacturer, Microsoft uses a lithium polymer batteries. I've never seen such a battery leak, if that's what you're describing. Why manufacturers always package the battery separately from the phone, rather than pre-installing it, I don't know. I assume it's to minimise discharge of the battery prior to purchase.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 31 2016, @05:55AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 31 2016, @05:55AM (#382184)

            Apparently, the phones are made to where they never really completely shut off so they can still receive commands from "headquarters".

            My phone's battery dies even if I have the phone OFF. So this is just my conjecture of what would produce what I observe.

            I speculate the commands would be listening in to the microphone, relaying back images from the onboard camera, my GPS location, or my contact list? Or maybe a program to route my calls for special observation. While I thought my phone was OFF?

            Seems the only way to be sure its off is to remove the battery and wrap the phone in a tinfoil bag in case it has a backup battery inside it.

            ( In this case, the tinfoil hat is not for me - rather, its for my phone!)

            • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday July 31 2016, @08:51AM

              by butthurt (6141) on Sunday July 31 2016, @08:51AM (#382217) Journal

              It could be that, or there could be more prosaic reasons such as self-discharge of the battery, or power needed to operate the power button.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @03:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @03:32PM (#381968)

      Part of the severance package?

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday July 30 2016, @06:38AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday July 30 2016, @06:38AM (#381899) Journal

    That doesn't appear to be true.

    And you think this has any bearing on the Fine Article at all? Not True? Regarding MICROS~.ddd? I thought you had more intelligence, butthurt. Or at least less butthurt.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @10:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 30 2016, @10:08AM (#381922)

    I think that mspoweruser.com left out a word.

    Microsoft has now sold over 100 million Windows Phone Home devices since the launch of Windows Phone 7 in 2010.

    • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:45PM

      by butthurt (6141) on Saturday July 30 2016, @05:45PM (#381998) Journal

      Well put. Yes, Microsoft's offerings would be more successful in the market if they didn't phone home to the mothership so much. Why put up with that when there are alternatives that respect one's privacy?