Nokia has released its preliminary financial information for the fourth quarter 2012, with Devices and Services exceeding expectations, achieving underlying profitability, and increased net sales on Q3 of the same year.
It estimates the Devices & Services net sales were approximately ¬3.9 billion (£3.2 billion), with 86.3 million units sold. This compares with net sales in Q3 2012 of ¬3.563 billion, with 82.9 million units sold.
Its mobile phones business unit and Lumia portfolio delivered better than expected results, with mobile phone net sales of approximately ¬2.5 billion (£2.05 billion), compared with ¬2.366 billion in Q3, and ¬1.2 billion in smart devices net sales, compared with ¬976 million in Q3. The preliminary results saw approximately 6.6 million smart device units sold of which 4.4 million were Nokia Lumia smartphones.
Total smartphone sales were 15.9 million units, including 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.
Nokia said multiple factors affected the Devices & Services businesses, including better than expected financial performance in the mobile phones business unit and Lumia smartphones, and lower than expected operating costs.
The manufacturer’s preliminary outlook for the first quarter 2013 is for a negative Devices & Services operating margin, based on expectations including competitive industry environment negatively affecting the smart devices and mobile phones business units and a seasonally weak quarter.
Its Nokia Siemens Networks exceeded expectations for the fourth quarter 2012, the company said, delivering underlying profits and a third consecutive quarter of underlying profitability. It estimates net sales for Q4 were approximately ¬4 billion (£3.28 billion), compared with ¬3.501 billion from Q3 2012.
Seasonality is again expected to have a negative impact on the Q1 2013 underlying profitability for Nokia Siemens Networks, the company said.
Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop said the company was please that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where the company exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services.
“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.”
