Nokia will axe 7,000 jobs and outsource its legacy Symbian activities to slash 1 billion euros ($1.46 billion) of costs as it struggles to compete in the fierce smartphone market.

Nokia, the world's largest phone maker by volume, on Wednesday detailed an overhaul of its business that will include laying off 4,000 staff and transferring another 3,000 to technology services firm Accenture - a total 12 percent of its phone unit workforce.

Accenture will take over Nokia's legacy Symbian software activities and support future smartphones, including those running on Microsoft's Windows platform.