Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG have teamed up to hopefully take on Ericsson AB. Not sure how well this will work out, but it should be interesting.

Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG said Monday they will combine their telecommunications network equipment units in a joint venture, a move to help them compete with market leader Ericsson AB.

The 50-50 venture, to be called Nokia Siemens Networks, will consist of Nokia’s network business group and Siemens’ carrier-related operations, creating cost savings of $1.9 billion by 2010, Nokia said.

The companies expect the venture to generate annual sales of $20 billion.

The deal was expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval, and both companies said that between 10 percent and 15 percent of staff positions, or about 9,000 jobs, would likely be cut over the next four years.

In Frankfurt, Siemens shares rose by nearly 8.7 percent before falling back to 67.78 euros ($85.34), up 7.9 percent. In Helsinki, Nokia was up 4.5 percent at 16.46 euros ($20.70) in late trading… Source: SFGate