Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
While Nokia’s sales for the third quarter fell 13pc from last year to €8.9bn, it is understood to be better than analysts had expected. With the first Nokia/Microsoft Windows Phones just around the corner, is Nokia ready to fight back?
Nokia’s descent into the abyss seems to be slowing somewhat, but it is still far from healthy reading. Net sales were down 25pc year-on-year from €7.1bn down to €5.3bn.
The company shipped 16.8m smartphones and 89.8m mobile phones during the third quarter and the company was still able to glean an operating profit in its devices and services business of €132m, albeit down from €807m.
Overall, Nokia recorded an operating loss of €71m compared with operating profits of €403m last year.
Elop ‘encouraged’ by Windows Phone progress
CEO Stephen Elop said the new Windows Phone devices are going to enter the marketplace “later this quarter.”
He said he was encouraged by the progress made during the third quarter. “During the third quarter, we continued to take the action necessary to drive the structural changes required for Nokia’s long-term success.
“Our results in Q3 indicate that our sales execution and channel inventory situation have improved. From a product standpoint, our overall Mobile Phones portfolio performed well. We shipped approximately 18m dual SIM devices in Q3, and in markets such as India, where dual SIM is pervasive, we gained market share. We also strengthened our Smart Devices lineup in Q3, with the launch of our first smartphones running Symbian Belle, which improves the user experience and strengthens the competitiveness of our product portfolio.
“I am encouraged by our progress around the first Nokia experience with Windows Phone, and we look forward to bringing the experience to consumers in select countries later this quarter. We then intend to systematically increase the number of countries and launch partners during the course of 2012.
“To position Nokia for the future, we are driving fundamental changes in how we operate. In addition to the changes announced in April, in Q3 we announced plans for structural changes in manufacturing, Location & Commerce and supporting functions. The planned changes we have initiated are difficult but necessary in order to align the company to our strategy.
“In summary, in Q3 we started to see signs of early improvement in many areas, but we must continue to focus on consistent progress so that we can move Nokia through the transformation and deliver superior results to our shareholders,” Elop said.
