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Nokia is continuing its efficiency drive, cutting about 4,000 jobs in Hungary, Mexico and its native Finland as it shifts device assembly to lower cost regions, which are closer to its component suppliers.

The bulk of handset assembly will be moved to Asian factories, close to most of Nokia's supply chain. The giant had reorganized some of its manufacturing before, closing or scaling back plants in Germany and elsewhere, but it had spared its Salo base in Finland, which was established in 1979 and makes most of the smartphones for the European market.

But Nokia's territorial balance is shifting to emerging economies too, which will put new emphasis on its plants in China, Korea and Brazil. It has a total of nine handset plants including one under construction in Hanoi, Vietnam. It has already closed down and sold a Romanian facility and bases in Hungary and Mexico are now under review.

The firm also relies more than it used to on Taiwanese contract manufacturers and ODMs, especially for low end models but also for some of the new WP7 Lumia line. The first shipments of Lumia came from Compal in Taiwan and Nokia will soon start making the new devices at its base in Manaus in Brazil.

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