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Nokia posts 21% decrease in sales, down to 10 billion euros in Q4 2011 financial report

Still waiting for Windows Phone push

Nokia posts 21% decrease in sales, down to 10 billion euros in Q4 2011 financial report
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has published its Q4 2011 financials, revealing net sales of €10 billion ($13.1 billion), down 21 percent year-on-year.

Of this total, Nokia's Devices & Services division generated €5.9 billion ($7.8 billion), down 29 percent year-on-year.

Nokia also made a group operating loss of €956 million ($1.3 billion), with the Nokia Siemens Networks division posting profits of €67 million ($88 million) according to IFRS rules.

As is tradition, the company also published its operating figures in Non-IFRS form (similar to US non-GAAP) to display what it claims was the underlying performance of this group, with profits at €176 million ($232 million).

Play it smart

During the quarter, Nokia shipped a total of 113.5 million mobile devices, down 8 percent year on year.

Of that, smartphone shipments totalled 19.6 million, down 31 percent yoy.

The average price per mobile device was €53 ($70), down from €69 ($91) in Q4 2010. The average price per smartphone also fell, from €154 ($203) to €140 ($184).

Nokia generated positive cash flow during the quarter of €634 million ($835 million), down 74 percent from €2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) last year.

American dreams

"In October, just six months after signing an agreement with Microsoft, we introduced our first two devices based on the Windows Phones platform - the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 710," said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

"We brought the new devices to market ahead of schedule, demonstrating that we are changing the clock speed of Nokia. To date, we have introduced Lumia to consumers in Europe, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

"We have also started our important re-entry into the North American market. Earlier this month, T-Mobile started selling the Nokia Lumia 710 as a lead device," he added.

"We also announced the new Nokia Lumia 900 with AT&T, and immediately received a number of industry awards. The Nokia Lumia 900 is our third Lumia device, our first LTE device designed specifically for the North American market, and AT&T is positioning the Lumia 900 as a lead LTE device."

Long term value

"Our specific intent has been to establish a beachhead in this war of ecosystems, and country by country that is what we are now accomplishing,"

"In summary, with a strong balance sheet, our performance in mobile phones and the new excitement around Lumia, we are confident that we are on the right track to build long-term value," he concluded.

The company ended the quarter with total cash and other liquid assets of €10.9 billion ($14 billion). This is down from €12.2 billion ($16 billion) yoy.

[source: Nokia (PDF)]

When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.