Sliding sales keep Nokia in the red
Nokia said it continued to be hit by fierce competition in the first quarter with a 30% fall in sales of mobile devices, the troubled unit it sold to Microsoft last week.
Net loss was €239m compared with a loss of €272m a year earlier, while revenue fell to €2.6bn in the period, down from €3.1bn a year earlier, the Finnish company said today.
Nokia released its quarterly earnings report as it announced new strategies and appointments after it completed the €5.44bn sale of its devices and services division and a license to a portfolio of patents to Microsoft last week.
The former mobile leader, which peaked in 2008 with a global market share of 40%, has failed to meet the smartphone challenge of Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android operating system and cheaper competitors in Asia.
It tried to reverse the trend by teaming up with Microsoft in 2011, replacing its old operating system with one based on Windows, but consumers shunned the Lumia devices and its sales continued to fall.
Now, the Finnish company will focus on its remaining operations – networks, mapping services and technology development and licences.
Nokia has also appointed a new chief executive – Indian-born Rajeev Suri, the former head of Nokia Solutions and Networks, who joined Nokia in 1995.
