Chennai Nokia plant decision

Amid uncertainty over the fate of its controversy-ridden Chennai plant, Finnish telecom major Nokia has said it has been in talks with Microsoft — the new owner of its erstwhile devices and services business — to keep the plant up and running.

A Nokia spokesperson told FE: “Due to the liens set on the Chennai factory and the uncertain environment, Nokia in discussion with Microsoft continuously assesses volume requirements and plans production accordingly.” due to tax litigation, the plant was kept outside the Microsoft-Nokia deal, under which the latter sold its entire devices and services business for $ 7.2 billion. With the plant’s employees taking to agitation, Nokia signed a service agreement with Microsoft to produce handsets on a contract basis, at least for one year.

Nokia, simultaneously, introduced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for the workers, along with a 'Bridge' programme to help them find jobs elsewhere.

The strength of the Chennai plant workforce has come down to around 850 from 7,000 earlier. The facility is now running with these few hundred workers following the closure of the VRS scheme this month, wherein Nokia had claimed that around 5,000 people have opted for it. According to union sources, around 730 temporary workers had taken VRS.

When asked how Nokia plans to run the Chennai plant with a few hundred workers, the spokesperson further said: “On the basis of recent developments, production capacity has been aligned and we remain confident of delivering it to Microsoft. Our intention remains to keep the factory operational and deliver against our services agreement.”

According to sources, during the past few months, production at the Chennai plant had come down to 2 million pieces a month from 13 million earlier. The company had reportedly shifted production of the Asha series from here. Industry sources, however, said that with a few hundered people remaining, production is likely to decline drastically.

The rest of the workforce is worried that since a majority of employees have opted for VRS, and as orders dwindle, things may have come to a flashpoint where collective bargaining has become increasingly difficult. They want the chief minister's intervention.

R Soundararajan, honourary president, Nokia India Workers Union, had told FE it was now for the Tamil Nadu chief minister to look into the matter seriously as the remaining permanent employees cannot be asked to go one fine day.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOTOROLA E AND NOKIA LUMIA 525

NEW DELHI: Moto E has become a runaway success in the Indian market, giving buyers a viable option against the multitude of low-cost but barely functioning smartphones from the likes of Micromax, Lava, Samsung, Sony etc.

While there is no doubt that Moto E is the best ultra-cheap Android smartphone, many still believe that Microsoft's Nokia Lumia 520 — despite being over a year old — is still THE phone to beat in the entry-level segment. Adding to the options is the recognition for Nokia X, the company's cheapest Android phone, albeit with a lot of Microsoft flavour and sans Google Play Store.

We take an in-depth look at the three to decide which among the three — Moto E, Lumia 520 and Nokia X — is the best entry-level smartphone in India.

old trend returns

Nokia 3310, Nokia 8800, Motorola StarTac 130 ring in a comeback; fetching prices as high as 1,000 euros a piece

Some people don't blink at the prices, we have models at more than 1,000 euros. The high prices are due to the difficulty in finding those models, which were limited editions in their time," said Djassem Haddad, who started the site vintagemobile.frin 2009.

Haddad had been eyeing a niche market, but since last year, sales have taken off, he said.

Over the past two to three years, he has sold some 10,000 handsets, "with a real acceleration from the beginning of 2013".

"The ageing population is looking for simpler phones, while other consumers want a second cheap phone," he said.

Among the top-sellers on the website is the Nokia 8210, with a tiny monochrome screen and plastic buttons, at 59.99 euros.

Ironically, the trend is just starting as the telecommunications industry consigns such handsets to the recycling bins, hailing smartphones as the way ahead.

Finnish giant Nokia, which was undisputedly the biggest mobile phone company before the advent of Apple's iPhone or Samsung's Galaxy, offloaded its handset division to Microsoft this year after failing to catch the smartphone wave.

But it was probably also the supposedly irreversible switch towards smartphone that has given the old school phone an unexpected boost.

Back to basics

For Damien Douani, an expert on new technologies at FaDa agency, it is simply trendy now to be using the retro phone.

There is "a great sensation of finding an object that we knew during another era - a little like paying for vintage sneakers that we couldn't afford when we were teenagers," Douani told AFP.

There is also "a logic of counter-culture in reaction to the over-connectedness of today's society, with disconnection being the current trend."

"That includes the need to return to what is essential and a basic telephone that is used only for making phone calls and sending SMSes," he added.

It is also about "being different. Today, everyone has a smartphone that looks just like another, while ten years ago, brands were much more creative".

It is a mostly high-end clientele that is shopping at French online shop Lekki, which sells "a range of vintage, revamped mobile phones".

"Too many online social networks and an excess of email and applications, have made us slaves to technology in our everyday life. But Lekki provides a solution, allowing a return to basic features and entertainments," it said on its website.

A Motorola StarTac 130 - a model launched in 1998 - and repainted bright orange was recently offered for 180 euros, while an Ericsson A2628 with gold coloured keys for 80 euros.

"We have two types of profiles: the 25 to 35 year-olds attracted by the retro and offbeat side of a telephone that is a little different, and those who are nostalgic for the phone that they used when they were younger," said Maxime Chanson, who founded Lekki in 2010.

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nokia disconnecting people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1UejPMJZZNokia India employees have sought Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's intervention to resolve labour issues at the handset maker's factory in Chennai, requesting the state government to take a "firm stand" in ensuring their job security.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Nokia India Employees Union (Nokia India Thozhilalargal Sangam) Honorary President A Soundararajan said the Voluntary Retirement Scheme offered by the company should be "withdrawn", and the jobs shifted to other manufacturing units be brought back to the Chennai plant, among the biggest of the Finland-based company.

"The plant has been operating at Sriperumbudur near Chennai since 2005 and enjoying several benefits offered by the state government since then. However, without intimating the labourers, the State or Central government, the company was sold to Microsoft," said Mr Soundararajan, who is also a sitting MLA.

The company had on April 10 announced VRS, of which 1,550 workers, including 700 trainees and 850 team leaders were "forcefully" asked to accept and left the company, he claimed.

"If this situation continues, around 20,000 employees working at the Nokia Special Economic Zone and depending on Nokia India factory (in Sriperumbudur) are in danger of losing jobs. Nokia India has betrayed the employees and the Government," he said.

The average age of an employee in the factory is 25 years and 10,000 people (involved directly and indirectly) with the company comprise of women employees, he said, adding that the factory and employees may be considered to come under the Nokia-Microsoft agreement.A