So after just one quarter, "strong actions are being taken," said Kallasvuo. The Nokia Siemens management team, headed by the joint venture's CEO Simon Beresford-Wylie, have to find another €500 million (US$683 million) in annual cost savings on top of the €1.5 billion ($2 billion) that's already being cut.

    Does that mean another 3,000 jobs will be cut from the joint venture's staff? The company isn't saying exactly how that money will be saved, or the timescale. "We'll keep you posted on this," stated CFO Simonson -- but he did say that the vendor would look at "additional opportunities to transfer staff [in Germany and Finland] to our partners," an arrangement it has already achieved. (See NSN's Staff Shuffle.)

    In addition, Kallasvuo said Nokia Siemens "must transform its business," and "focus on more services, software-focused product developments¡­ and rebalancing on emerging markets [such as] India and China." (See Nokia Siemens Reveals Product Picks.)

    There's a foundation to build on in this respect, noted Kallasvuo, as NSN has landed some major mobile deals in India during the past few months, and has been investing in its operations there. (See Nokia Siemens Lands $900M India Deal, Nokia Siemens Gets IDEA, and NSN Invests in India.)

    Today's announcements also revealed just how weak NSN is in the North American market. Of its €3.44 billion ($4.7 billion) in revenues in the three months to June 30, only €164 million ($225 million), or 4.8 percent of the total, was generated in North America, its smallest geographic region. (See the following table.)

       NSN's management has expressed its desire to be a stronger player in that market: To that end, the joint venture has been linked recently to talks with Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB - message board; Frankfurt: BTLA), which generates most of its $500 million-plus per quarter revenues from North American carriers. (See Is Nokia Siemens Tailing Tellabs?, Tellabs Mum on M&A Talks, and Tellabs: Suitor or Bait?)