Nokia revenues fell 20% in the first quarter to €5.85 billion ($7.63 billion), and the losses have come down from €928 million ($1,21 billion) to €272 million ($355 million). The company’s results were below analysts’ estimates because of poor sales of phones with basic functions. Shares of the Finnish company fell Thursday in Helsinki by up to 6.6%.
Average analyst estimated sales of €6.52 billion ($8.51 billion) for Nokia in the first three months of the year compared to €7.35 billion ($9.83 billion) reported for the corresponding period last year.
Sales of Lumia smartphones with Microsoft Windows operating system rose to 5.6 million units from 4.4 million in the last three months of last year. However, Nokia is still at a long distance on the market from Samsung Electronics and Apple, which cumulatively sold more than 100 million smartphones in the first quarter.
“The decline in our mobile phones business was primarily due to some competitive industry dynamics,” said in a statement the chief executive officer of Nokia, Stephen Elop, adding that the company plans to counteract competition with a set of “aggressive moves.”
Nomura analyst Stuart Jeffrey commented: “The gross margin improvement is a clear positive, but the decline in feature phone units is a material concern given the importance of this unit to driving scale and cash flow.”
Nokia sold in the first three months of the year a total of 61.9 million handsets, well below analysts’ estimates, who forecast 73 million units.
The Finnish company wants to launch this year, together with the new range of smartphones, a phone/tablet with a size similar to Samsung Galaxy Note models, according to the Financial Times, citing sources close to the company.
Nokia is also preparing a premium Lumia model equipped with a PureView 41 megapixel digital camera, which could be launched in July, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. A lighter and thinner Lumia 920 would be a part of the new range of Nokia phones.
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