Nokia lays off entire NAVTEQ developer network staff

This time last week, we broke the news that Nokia was shutting down the developer network for its location and mapping subsidiary NAVTEQ, with our source telling us that the move would come into effect on Friday 20. A NAVTEQ spokesperson refused to go into detail but confirmed that “we are going to be sunsetting NN4D” and that “[w]e are in the process of sharing this information with our developers and partners”.

They don’t call it PR-speak for nothing. According to a Google+ post by Greg Rose, NN4D’s former social media handler, the company has abruptly ‘sunsetted’ (read: laid off) the entire NN4D team:

[I]t seems that "The Powers That Be" (Read: Nokia Location & Commerce division) decided to pull the plug on our group, the NAVTEQ Network for Developers and we were all given 2 weeks notice to shut the whole developer network down. The whole team was let go as of last Friday, from our executive VP all the way down to our Social Media guy (Hey, that's me!).

According to the NN4D website, that’s a total of 30 disgruntled staff -- Rose emphasises that his contract was originally scheduled for termination on March 31, but that the decision was suddenly brought forward by more than two months. NAVTEQ has so far failed to issue as much as a press release, and it’s unclear how the move has affected developers relying on the company’s location services. We’ll update this story as we get more details.

Update, 26/01: We've just had a look at Nokia's Q4 earnings, which were released this morning. Perhaps not surprisingly, they include a €1.1bn writedown of the company's Location & Commerce division (of which NAVTEQ is the main component).