HELSINKI - NOKIA, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said on Friday it would shed about 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark as part of a streamlining of its research and development operations.

'The planned changes are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia's Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia's Copenhagen site,' the firm said in a statement. It added it currently had some 17,000 employees in research and development, of which more than 2,000 in Oulu and more than 1,000 in the Danish capital.

The mobile phone giant launched a cost-cutting programme last January, after its earnings fell as consumers cut back on buying handsets amid the global financial crisis.

The programme aims to generate more than 700 million euros (S$1.39 billion) in annual savings.

Before Friday, Nokia had announced about 3,700 job reductions since January, including around 1,300 voluntary redundancy packages.

Last month Nokia posted a surprise swing into red when it reported a third-quarter net loss of 559 million euros amid rising competition in the smartphone market and problems with its Nokia Siemens Networks joint venture.