Nokia releases Q3 2008 figures; sales and profits down
Nokia released its interim report today covering performance in Q3 of this year. Long story short, it wasn’t pretty. Nokia had predicted a slow third quarter and a slow third quarter it had indeed. Market share was down, shipments were down, sales were down and profit was down. Perhaps the most alarming statistic is Nokia’s market share - Nokia had been enjoying a steadily rising global share that finally reached an astounding 40% last quarter. Q3 brought the figure down 2% to 38% however, and it would have been worse if not for Nokia’s saving grace: emerging markets. As for Nokia’s presence here in the US, at least it didn’t lose any market share! Nokia held strong at 4.5%, down substantially from 2007 but identical to its share in Q2 2008. Some might consider that a small victory actually, considering the release of the iPhone 3G. Snippet from OPK:
As a result of our strong operational management and market position, Nokia was able to achieve solid margins and operating cash flow of 1.3 billion euros for the third quarter of 2008. With our scale, brand, improving product portfolio and low cost structure, we believe Nokia is well positioned for the current times.
Things are expected to turn around for Nokia in the coming months with the release of its first S60 touchscreen handset, the 5800 XpressMusic. Nokia also is expected to formally announce its first Nseries touchscreen device before the year is over. At the time this post was written, Nokia’s stock was up 2.58% to 15.50.
Tags: 2008, Financials, Nokia, Q3
Perhaps if they’d design more than basic handset that’s weren’t so vanilla to be picked up by US carriers they could incite some brand recognition and gain a foothold in the US.
Permalink | Reply
Well, I think the reason that the handsets aren’t picked up by carriers, is that Nokia has traditionally played hardball with the US carriers - refusing to allow modifications to the UI or OS. Nokia have taken the strategy of Apple: don’t mess with our phone’s features. Unfortunately for them, they don’t have the brand recognition that Apple does in the US.
Internationally, it’s a different story, and Nokia is considered anything but vanilla. That said, this has been a slow year for them, and they haven’t released any envelope-pushing handsets. The N96 is an overpriced, repackaged N95 and is already obsoleted by the N85, and even the 5800Xpress is a pretty run-of-the-mill phone: basically an evolved, S60 version of the 7710.
Their are two upcoming Nokia phones which will change the game: The rumored N96 replacement that Zach refers to, and, more importantly, the E77 - Note, this is NOT the same phone as the previewed E75 ;-).
Permalink | Reply
If CwM and the 5800 get carrier support in the US, Q4 and Q1 09 will see some significant changes from these previous quarters.
Permalink | Reply