Finnish handset vendor Nokia said Tuesday that it will discontinue the production of mobile devices in Germany and close its Bochum site by mid-year.

The closure of the facility will see jobs cuts by approximately 2,300, as the company moves manufacturing operations to cheaper European sites.

Nokia will also cease other non-production activities at the Bochum site and will sell its line fit automotive business and software R&D centre as a result.

The Finnish company revealed it is in negotiations with Sasken Technologies to sell the R&D unit.

The company said the German site has become too expensive to run – a situation that could not be rectified with additional investments.

“The planned closure of the Bochum production site is necessary to secure Nokia’s long-term competitiveness,” said Veli Sundback, executive VP of Nokia. “Due to market changes and increasing requirements for cost-effectiveness, production of mobile devices in Germany is no longer feasible for Nokia. It cannot be operated in a way that meets the requirements for global cost efficiency and for flexible capacity growth. Therefore we have to make this tough decision.”