Nokia today reported a net profit for the fourth quarter,
as it sold a growing number of Windows Phone-based Lumia
smartphones.
The Finnish company said Thursday that it turned a net
profit of €202 million ($270 million) in the fourth
quarter, compared with a loss of $1 billion a year
earlier, but revenue fell 20 percent as it failed to make
gains in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.The
company's revenue dropped to €8 billion ($10.6
billion) from €10 billion as smartphone sales plunged
55 percent from a year earlier.
During the fourth quarter 2012 Nokia said it shipped 6.6
million Smart Devices units, of which 4.4 million were
Lumia devices. Symbian devices accounted for 2.2 million
units of the company's Smart Devices volumes in the fourth
quarter 2012. Nokia expects its Symbian devices to account
for a significantly smaller portion of our overall
Smart Devices volumes in the first quarter 2013 and going
forward. During the same period, Nokia also shipped 79.6
million Mobile Phones units, of which 9.3 million were
Asha full touch smartphones.
Commenting on the results, Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, said:
"We are very encouraged that our team's execution against
our business strategy has started to translate into
financial results. Most notably we are pleased that Nokia
Group reached underlying operating profitability in the
fourth quarter and for the full year 2012.
While the first half of 2012 was difficult for Nokia
Group, in Q4 2012 we strengthened our financial position,
improved our underlying operating margin in Devices &
Services, introduced the HERE brand to expand our mapping
and location experiences, and drove record profitability
in Nokia Siemens Networks.
We remain focused on moving through our transition, which
includes continuing to improve our product
competitiveness, accelerate the way we operate and manage
our costs effectively. All of these efforts are aimed at
improving our financial performance and delivering more
value to our shareholders."
Elop added that the company was making progress in
resolving supply issues with its new Lumia 920
smartphones.
He also told reporters on a conference call that that
Nokia was open to "all options" for Nokia Siemens
Networks, its network equipment venture with Siemens.
Nokia also lans to axe its annual dividend payment for the
first time in over 20 years To shore up its cash position
against falling sales.