Microsoft is set to announce a new round of job cuts as soon as today (Wednesday), with an impact felt in its hardware business, including the smartphone unit it acquired last year from Nokia, said The New York Times.

The latest cull follows the company’s reduction of 18,000 jobs, or 14 per cent of its full-time workforce, almost exactly a year ago. That was the biggest layoff in the company’s history.

But the latest move is not so surprising, given an email sent to employees in late June by CEO Satya Nadella about taking “tough choices in areas where things are not working and solve hard problems in ways that drive customer value”.

The company then sold part of its mapping business to Uber, and offloaded its online display advertising business to AOL.

And Microsoft announced four senior executives leaving, including Stephen Elop, the former CEO of Nokia who headed Microsoft’s devices unit after its acquisition by the US company.

A new team headed by Terry Myerson called the Windows and Devices Group (WDG) will combine the existing Operating Systems Group and Microsoft Devices Group (MDG).

Microsoft, which has not commented on the job cuts, employs more than 118,000 globally.