Nokia have published their quarter four figures for 2011 and they make for slightly depressing reading. You can find the figures here at the Nokia press site.
Some of the most interesting points from this are as follows.
Nokia have sold “well over 1 million lumia devices”
Operating profit at a loss of 954 million euros compared to profit of 884 million profit in the same quarter in 2010
Net sales are only down by 21% compared to the same quarter in 2010, so I’m guessing the massive loss will have been costs involved in advertsing and the transition to Windows Phone.
Nokia are putting a brave face on these figures. They are saying that 2012 is still going to be a transition period and they are not setting any goals for 2012 at all.
Stephen Elop the CEO of Nokia had quite a bit to say on the matter and here are some highlights of his announcement.
The fourth quarter of 2011 marked a significant step in Nokia’s transformation. Most notably, in Q4 we introduced new mobile phones and smartphones, which resulted from the strategy shift in our Devices & Services business.
Overall, we are pleased with the performance of our mobile phones business.
In the war of ecosystems, clearly there are some strong contenders already on the field. And with Lumia, we have demonstrated that we belong on the field. Our specific intent has been to establish a beachhead in this war of ecosystems, and country by country that is what we are now accomplishing. To date we have sold well over 1 million Lumia devices. From this beachhead of more than 1 million Lumia devices, you will see us push forward with the sales, marketing and successive product introductions necessary to be successful. We also plan to bring the Lumia series to additional markets including China and Latin America in the first half of 2012.
Specifically, changing market conditions are putting increased pressure on Symbian. In certain markets, there has been an acceleration of the anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian’s traditional strengths. As a result of the changing market conditions, combined with our increased focus on Lumia, we now believe that we will sell fewer Symbian devices than we previously anticipated.
Nokia believes it is currently not appropriate to provide annual targets for 2012 mainly for the following reasons:- 2012 is expected to continue to be a year of transition, during which our Devices & Services business will be subject to risks and uncertainties. Those risks and uncertainties include, among others, consumer demand for our Symbian devices; the timing, ramp-up, and consumer demand related to new products, including our Lumia devices; and further pressure on margins as competitors endeavor to capitalize on our platform and product transition;- Nokia Siemens Networks has announced a new strategy which focuses its business on mobile broadband and services, and has launched an extensive global restructuring program. – Additionally, the macroeconomic environment is making it increasingly difficult to estimate our outlook and provide reliable targets.
So this time next year we will see if it has all paid off. They certainly seem confident. Although a 954 million euro loss would certainly be hard to stomach. Strange Elop made no mention of it at all in his announcement.
Source – Nokia Press
