Nokia exceeds previous Q4 2012 outlook for Devices & Services and Nokia Siemens Networks
Sales of Nokia Lumia devices have helped push the Finnish manufacturer's fourth quarter 2012 preliminary outlook, the company claimed today.
Nokia claimed its Devices & Services division has exceeded expectations and achieved underlying profitability in the fourth quarter 2012. The Mobile Phones business unit and Lumia portfolio have delivered better than expected results, while operating expenses were lower than expected, creating a positive outlook for the company.
Shares of the company rocketed by almost 20% in US premarket trading today, and were up 16% in Helsinki on the news.
Nokia estimates that Devices & Services net sales in the fourth quarter 2012 were approximately Euro 3.9 billion, with total device volumes of 86.3 million units.
Mobile Phones net sales are approximately Euro 2.5 billion, with total volumes of 79.6 million units, of which 9.3 million units were Asha full touch smartphones.
Smart Devices net sales are approximately Euro 1.2 billion, with total volumes of 6.6 million units, of which 4.4 million units were Nokia Lumia smartphones.
Total smartphone volumes stand at 15.9 million units, up from the third quarter of 2012 where total smartphone volumes stood at 7.2 million. The 15.9 million units is composed of 9.3 million Asha full touch smartphones, 4.4 million Lumia smartphones and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.
The fourth quarter is significantly better than the third quarter 2012 for Nokia, when according to Gartner it slipped from the number three spot for smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2012, to number seven in the third quarter of 2012. Nokia's mobile phone sales declined 21.9 % in the third quarter of 2012, but overall sales at 82.3 million were better than Gartner had expected at the time, largely driven by increased sales of the Asha full touch range.
Nokia also estimates that Nokia Siemens Networks has exceeded expectations for the fourth quarter 2012, delivering record underlying profits and a third consecutive quarter of underlying profitability.
Commenting on the preliminary fourth quarter financial information, Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, said: '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.'
Nokia will provide more details when it reports fourth quarter and full year 2012 results on January 24, 2013.
