Andre Yoskowitz
19 Apr 2012 20:53
Nokia warned two weeks ago that its quarterly earnings were going to be bad, and they certainly were today.
For the Q1, Nokia posted a net loss of $1.2 billion on revenue of $9.72 billion. Revenue fell 30 percent year-over-year and the company had a profit of $451 million in the same quarter last year.
Most harsh for the phone maker was smartphone sales, which dropped by 55 percent to $2.23 billion. Overall mobile phone device sales fell 40 percent to $5.5 billion.
Operating margins came in at a negative 3 percent, with no end in sight. Nokia says it will cut costs by another $1.31 billion by the end of 2013.
Says CEO Stephen Elop of the challenges faced by the company: "We exceeded expectations in markets including the United States but establishing momentum in certain markets ... has been more challenging. We are navigating through a significant company transition in an industry environment that continues to evolve and shift quickly."
Nokia has put all of its eggs in one basket, new Windows Phone 7 devices which are popular but will need a large push if they ever hope to take significant share from Apple and Android.