Nokia To Expand Mobile Device Production In China

STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia Corp. Thursday said it plans to expand its mobile device production in Dongguan, China.

Nokia anticipates the factory expansion will begin production in the third quarter of 2006, and expects to ramp up gradually, with the work force reaching around 1,900 employees when production is at full scale.

The expanded production facilities will be located adjacent to Nokia's existing facility.

The company said this expansion will provide more capacity and flexibility to meet the growing market demand worldwide, especially China and Asia.

Dongguan is a strategic location for Nokia's global supply network for mobile devices, it said, and increasing capacity in Dongguan will help it to improve its competitive position in the fast-growing Chinese and Asian markets.

"Our already well-established presence in Dongguan made the decision to expand the manufacturing facility easy. Dongguan is an elementary part of our global manufacturing network as a cost-efficient and well-functioning facility, and we believe that the expansion will further benefit our customers in the highly competitive and rapidly growing Chinese and Asian markets," said Raimo Puntala, senior vice president, Operations and Logistics, Nokia.

Nokia currently has nine mobile device factories globally. In addition, the Nokia Chennai plant in India is planned to be operational in the first half of 2006. Nokia has six research and development units, four manufacturing sites and widespread operations in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The total number of Nokia employees in China area is nearly 6,000.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 1st December 2005