Nokia announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs as part of a restructuring of its manufacturing operations. Factories in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland, will be affected. The measures follow a review of smartphone manufacturing operations, announced by Nokia last September. Aiming to increase its competitiveness, Nokia on Wednesday announced it will shed 4,000 jobs, or 7% of its global workforce, as it shifts device assembly to Asia.

This forms part of attempts by the handset maker to catch up in the smartphone market, where it has been losing share to Samsung and Apple. The three factories will in future focus on smartphone product customization, serving customers mainly in Europe and the Americas. Device assembly will be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based. Nokia said the move should help it reduce the time to market and more quickly introduce innovations in its smartphones.

As a consequence of the plans, the number of steps in manufacturing and the amount of work carried out at the sites in Komarom, Reyno sa and Salo are expected to decrease substantially. The job cuts will be phased through the end of 2012, with staff receiving financial support and assistance with local re-employment.

The company’s continuing decline in market share prompted another round of cuts in April 2011 that included the loss of 4,000 jobs in Denmark, Finland and Britain. The company also transferred 3,000 employees working on Symbian to Accenture. As of Wednesday afternoon, EST, Nokia’s stock price was up about 1% on the news.