Nokia has closed the last of its 10 online stores as Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop pares parts of the company's operations.
"We are simplifying our channel structures and focusing resources on our key retail and operator partners," as well as bricks-and-mortar Nokia stores, James Etheridge, a spokesman for the Espoo, Finland-based company said by telephone. The online sales sections of Nokia websites in the U.S. and U.K. bore messages directing customers to retailers and operators, including Amazon.com for unlocked phones in the U.S.
Nokia sold a business that provides e-mail and instant messaging services marketed through phone companies to competitor Synchronica Plc for $25 million, according to a statement. Elop has already agreed to sell the development operations for Nokia's Symbian smartphone software to Accenture Plc as he shifts to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7 as Nokia's main high-end platform.
"Though operator-branded mobile messaging is an offering valued by network operators, it is no longer a core business for Nokia," Doug Dawson, Nokia said. "The business will continue after its planned acquisition by Synchronica."
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