Nokia revenue drops 21%
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Steep drop in smarthphone sales drags Finnish device maker into €950 million loss as Apple reports strongest ever quarter
Finnish mobile device maker Nokia has reported a 21% decline in revenues for its most recent financial quarter, down to €10.0 billion, and a €950 million operating loss.
The company's smartphone business, which it is in the process of relaunching with Microsoft's Window Phone operating system, shrank by 38% year-on-year to €2.8 billion in the final three months of 2011. Smartphone shipments fell 31% to 19.6 million units.
CEO Steven Elop said that Nokia has sold "well over 1 million" of its Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones. "In the war of [mobile] ecosystems, clearly there are some strong contenders already on the field," he said. "And with Lumia, we have demonstrated that we belong on the field."
The mobile phone business (i.e. non-smartphone devices) also shrank year-on-year, by 23% to €3.0 billion, but grew by 4% sequentially. "We are pleased with the performance of our mobile phones business," said Elop, highlighting "particular strength in India, Middle East and Africa and South East Asia."
"While we progressed in the right direction in 2011, we still have a tremendous amount to accomplish in 2012, and thus, it is my assessment that we are in the heart of our transition," said Elop.
Nokia's results came just hours after Apple reported record-breaking profits of $13.1 billion for the same period. The company sold 37.0 million iPhones – nearly double Nokia's smartphone shipments – and 15.4 million iPads.
“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said CEO Tim Cook. iPod unit sales fell 21%.
