Microsoft To Slash ~2,000 Smartphone Hardware Business Jobs, Will Focus Phone Efforts In 'Differentiation'-Heavy Areas

Microsoft Corporation MSFT announced Wednesday morning a major change to its smartphone hardware business.

Microsoft said it will "streamline" its smartphone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs. The company will record an impairment and restructuring charge of around $950 million, $200 million of which will be allocated toward severance payments.

Related Link: Microsoft Announces Sale Of Feature Phone Business To A Foxconn Subsidiary

The charges will be recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016, and the actions associated with the announcement are expected to be fully completed by July 2017.

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same," said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms."

Shares of Microsoft were trading higher by 0.76 percent following the announcement early Wednesday morning.