Microsoft to cut 1,850 jobs at struggling former Nokia smartphone unit

The cuts, which will mainly fall in Finland, mark the end of the US company's attempt to take on Apple and Samsung

Microsoft is cutting up to 1,850 jobs in its smartphone business just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.

In a move that clearly puts the stamp of two-year chief executive Satya Nadella on the US company, Microsoft said on Wednesday it would shed the bulk of the jobs in Finland and write down $950m from the business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.