Nokia today issued a fourth-quarter preliminary report and the news is much more positive than it has been in past quarters. Its Mobile Phones business unit and Lumia portfolio both delivered better than expected results. Nokia now expects that its Devices & Services group will exceed expectations and achieve “underlying profitability” for Q4 2012. According to Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO:
“We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services and record underlying profitability in Nokia Siemens Networks. We focused on our priorities and as a result we sold a total of 14 million Asha smartphones and Lumia smartphones while managing our costs efficiently, and Nokia Siemens Networks delivered yet another very good quarter.”
In particular, Nokia reports sales of 4.4 million Lumia-branded Windows Phones in the quarter. That amounts to a 51% jump over the 2.9 million devices shipped in Q3. It’s not clear how this breaks down between Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 7 devices. It also shipped 9.3 million Asha full touch “smartphones” and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.
Nokia expects Q1 2013 to be tougher due to “competitive industry dynamics” and the general seasonal weakness of the quarter. Margins could fall into negative territory again as a result.
Nokia will issue its full Q4 and full year 2012 financial results on January 24th, 2013.
Read more: Nokia