Mumbai, December 02: A Nokia E90 communicator is pictured under a plastic case at the CeBIT computer fair… Enlarge Photo A Nokia E90 communicator is pictured under a plastic case at the CeBIT computer fair…
Nokia, the world’s largest cellphone maker, forecast handset market volumes would grow around 10 percent next year, more than analysts’ 8.6 percent consensus.
Nokia also said on Wednesday its market share would be unchanged in 2010.
“Going into 2010, the overall mobile devices market is stabilising, and it is growing more in the areas where Nokia has competitive advantages,” Nokia’s new finance director Timo Ihamuotila said in a statement.
Nokia forecast its handset unit’s operating profit margin would be 12-14 percent next year, in line with what it reached earlier this year, but well below levels hit in the boom times, when it managed above 20 percent.
“I think consensus was probably gravitating towards the higher end of that guidance. So that is a slight negative,” said Sal. Oppenheim analyst Nicolas Von Stackelberg.
Nokia’s shares were down 1 percent at 8.82 euros at 1225 GMT, compared with a 0.4 percent fall for the DJ Stoxx European Technology Index.
Nokia’s shares have missed the stock market recovery, dropping 20 percent since the start of the year, mostly due to disappointment with its smartphone offering, while DJ Stoxx European technology index, in which it is the biggest constituent, has risen 17 percent.
(For a graphic on Nokia share price vs. Apple and RIM, click http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/129/EZ_NKSP1209.gif )
“We have three targets for 2010: execution, execution, execution,” Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a speech at the annual shareholders’ meeting.
Kallasvuo said the company has cut costs at its cellphone unit by an annual 1 billion euros.
Nokia and the rest of the cellphone industry have suffered as consumers cut spending on new gadgets, with the more expensive end of the market seeing increasingly stiff competition.
Nokia said, however, that it expected the fall in average selling prices (ASP) to slow in 2010.
“Guiding for slower ASP erosion comes as little surprise, particularly given looming cut-throat margin pressure on smartphone pricing,” said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.
Nokia’s CEO Kallasvuo said its Symbian operating system had reach and flexibility like no other platform, and the company plans to push smartphones down to new price points globally, while growing margins.
“It is encouraging to see Nokia coming out fighting for Symbian. 2010 is a make-or-break year for Nokia’s smartphone platforms in the face of fierce competition from Apple, Google Android and RIM,” Wood said.
—Agencies