Nokia losses quadruple as smartphone sales fall 34pc

Nokia's losses have quadrupled on sagging sales of smartphones but its shares jumped as overall sales exceeded forecasts. Nokia posted a net loss of €1.41bn (£893.8m) in the second quarter, compared with a loss of €368m in the same period last year.

Overall sales were down 19pc to €7.54bn, not as low as analysts' forecast of €7.36bn, according to financial data provider FactSet. Smartphone sales were weak, however, dropping 34pc to €1.54bn. Nokia shares jumped 10pc to €1.50 after the report. Analyst Mikko Ervasti at Evli Bank in Helsinki said Nokia performed better than expected in lower-end devices,shipping 84m such units compared with market expectations of 80m.

The Finnish company was the world's
leading mobile phone maker for more than a decade but was overtaken by Samsung in the first quarter, according to research firm Gartner. Facing stiff competition from Apple's iPhone
and devices running on Google's Android software, Nokia tried to stem the decline in smartphones in part through a partnership with Microsoft announced last year, replacing Nokia's existing Symbian operating platform with Microsoft's Windows Phone software.

A drop in sales was expected during this transition period, and Nokia said that the decline of Symbian phones dragged down sales in all regions expect for North America, where the decline was "more than offset" by sales of Nokia's Lumia devices, which run on the Windows software. Nokia said it sold 4m Lumia devices worldwide in the quarter. Questions arose about Lumia sales in the US earlier this week when Nokia and AT&T halved the price of the flagship Lumia 900 to $50, just three months after its introduction. Nokia called the cut "a normal strategy that is put in place during the life cycle of most phones".

Nokia's global market share has steadily shrunk from the peak of 40pc in 2008 to 29pc in 2011 and is expected to dwindle further this year. Meanwhile, Nokia shares have fallen to their lowest level since the 1990s, plunging below €2 in mid-June.


Source : telegraph.co.uk/technology/nokia/9411499/Nokia-losses-quadruple-as-smartphone-sales-fall-34pc.html