In his official press statement on Nokia’s first quarter fiscal performance in late April, company CEO Stephen Elop cautioned that "we expect a more challenging second quarter."

That degree of caution became markedly clearer when the Finnish mobile manufacturer revised its Q2 2011 financial targets.

Nokia now projects its Devices & Services division will generate €6.1 billion instead of the previously targeted €6.6 billion, citing 'competitive dynamics and market trends', 'devices with lower ASPs and gross margins', and 'pricing tactics' as the reasons for this more sober outlook.

Despite the revision of its forecast for the next three-month period, the Espoo-HQed company can clearly see a shaft of light at the end of the tunnel, as Elop explains:

"We aren't focusing on the stock price. Inside the company, we've got a clear perception of the future."

Three-pronged attack

New business relationships, new business models, and new kinds of devices will underpin this expected drive towards more prosperous times, according to Elop & co.

First off, Nokia's strategic partnership with Microsoft should see the Windows Phone platform holder paying Nokia "billions of dollars" for licensing mapping technology.

Related to that, the first smartphone fruits of the Nokia/Microsoft symbiosis should be borne in early 2012, with the former supplying the hardware nous and volume, and the latter the cutting edge mobile OS.

Elop asserts that "Nokia is going to be Microsoft's main partner in a business in which it desperately needs a major place, and will fight hard to capture."

Ten a Euro

At the other end of the market, Nokia is working on a new range of ultra-low cost phones - costing "tens of Euros apiece" - aimed at the Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, and African territories.

Whether these three shifts in focus, allied to the pledge to reduce operating costs by €1 billion, can herald a revival for the under pressure phone giant remains to be judged.

Seeds of Nokia's turnaround or otherwise will be evident when it reports its second fiscal quarter results on July 21st.

[source: Forbes]