Microsoft extends layoff plans to hardware, smartphone business

To be fair they brought in 25,000 (iirc)staff from Nokia when it was purchased. It doesn't take a genius to realise that at some point there would be a cull of staff where they are not needed or have too many. The refining of the way microsoft works is likely a cause too, they don't need the same staff as before because their approach is changing.

Also in design terms it doesn't take thousands of people to design the amount of hardware products that MS sell, software might be different but hardware will be better served by a small 'core design team' than a sprawling mass of people.

I'm also waiting on a mid to high spec microsoft phone.... so hurry MS :)