The BBC reports that Microsoft is ending the production of Android phones to focus on its Windows Phone operating system, with Nokia X models becoming part of the Lumia range.
Microsoft is also axing its Xbox Entertainment Studio, the TV production service set up by the company in order to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
Xbox will continue to "support and deliver" its interactive sports content such as NFL on Xbox, while a number of programmes that are already in development, and one that is currently on air, will not be cancelled, despite the studio's closure.
The moves are part of Microsoft's restructuring plan to "simplify its organisation and align the recently acquired Nokia Devices and Services business with the company's overall strategy".
In an email to employees yesterday (17 July), chief executive Satya Nadella outlined the company's planned "elimination" of 18,000 jobs over the next year. Around 12,500 jobs will be cut from the Nokia phone unit.
Nadella said in his email to staff that "making these decisions to change are difficult, but necessary".
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