Nokia reduces revised forecast further

"Slowdown has continued more rapidly than previously expected"

4 December 2008 13:35 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Nokia has again lowered its forecast for mobile device industry volumes for the fourth quarter of 2008. Nokia had already issued one warning about lower than expected performance in mid-November, but says that "the mobile device market slowdown has continued more rapidly than previously expected".

In a statement, the company says: "the industry continues to be impacted by the effects of a global consumer pull-back in spending, currency volatility, and decreased availability of credit. Nokia believes the slowdown is apparent in varying degrees across all markets, while the most recent incremental impact in the emerging markets has been more pronounced than in other markets".

Nokia now estimates that fourth quarter 2008 industry mobile device volumes will be lower than the previous estimate of approximately 330 million units, which would mean full year 2008 industry mobile device volumes below the earlier estimate of 1.24 billion units.

Looking forward to 2009, Nokia President and CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said: "2009 will be challenging for our industry, however we have a strong, enviable base to build on and I believe we will continue to strengthen our position on many fronts. Building on our operational flexibility, Nokia is acting to reduce costs appropriately in the current slowing environment. At the same time, we remain fully committed to making the investments to build the future of our exciting industry and Nokia's continued competitiveness."

Full tags

Biz, Phones, Mobile phone industry, Nokia