Nokia has announced redundancies – and has unveiled its cheapest handset, the Nokia 1202.

Nokia has announced job cuts of almost 600 employees within its sales and marketing and R&D departments – the majority of whom are based at its Finland headquarters – along with the closure of its Turku site in the country.

Approximately 450 employees, of which around 100 are based in Finland, will be affected by the changes to Nokia’s sales and marketing departments, while 130 of its Nokia Research Center (NRC) employees (100 of whom are based in Finland) will also be lost due to a renewed focus on “fewer but stronger research areas”.

Juha Äkräs, Nokia’s Senior Vice President, Human Resources, said: “Today’s changes are part of Nokia’s constant renewal where it is important to be close to our customers and ensure that our people are able to focus on the key business priorities. Also, our aim is to find alternative work within Nokia for as many employees as possible.”

The majority of employees based at the company’s Turku site – due to be closed by the end of January 2009 – will be relocated to its site in Salo or to the capital area of Finland.

This news follows Nokia’s unveiling of its lowest cost handset to date – the Nokia 1202 at €25 (about £20) – as part of its strategy to provide people in emerging markets an affordable and innovative range of mobile and internet devices.