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Nokia has just issued its financial data for Q4 of 2011, giving us our first look at how its effort with Microsoft is effecting the bottom line. Despite some recent mud-flinging regarding Windows Phone sales, it looks like it’s started pretty well — with Nokia claiming it’s already sold over a million Lumia-branded phones.
However, the rest of Nokia’s financial data isn’t very pretty. Q4′s profit is down by 56 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2010, overall sales are down 21 per cent as Symbian-powered phone sales continue to slide, while the company failed to provide any official targets for 2012, claiming it’s going to be another hard “year of transition.” [Nokia]
I think claiming is the operative word there…
I’m guessing many of those handsets were sold at zero cost to developers and reviewers, or simply sold at zero value to a phone recycling companies.
It is odd how Nokia is claiming 2012 is going to be another hard year of transition, when most phone makers did this years ago. And considering they haven’t went down that power play road of their own OS, it does make you think what the hell have they been doing and thinking all that time. It is like they thought this Android/iOS malarkey was a fad – and considering Android is open, for a vanilla option or custom build, they really don’t have an excuse to have one solid option on the table.
If the future of Nokia is based on cheap phones in poor countries, spare phones in rich countries, and Windows smartphones then I really don’t give them much hope – the new Windows platform is good but they have a mountain to climb and some stigma to shake off in the phone market.
I really want to take this at face value, and not just because I like the Windows Phone OS (although I do). Stronger competition between platforms will hopefully promote greater innovation, so we’d all get better products.
Agreed, with Blackberry OS “in transition” this year and possibly for some time after WP has it’s best chance to pinch 3rd spot, Microsoft know that Mobile is the new battlefield and they have the money to keep going despite the poor take up rate at the moment.
Agreed but currently 7% of the market gets you 3rd place, ouch! I’d also say mobile/tablet is the only battlefield, when you got a quad core, 4G, HDMI, with bluetooth or USB keyboard & mouse then nobody needs anything more for most needs, that is 90% of the needs of most users there once the software catches up – only hard core gamers and media production need an extra.