Nokia has issued its fourth quarter and full-year financial results. Net sales were down 9% for the year to €38.7 billion (£32.4 billion), while operating profit has fallen from €2.1 billion last year to a loss this year of €1.1 billion - most of which resulted from the final quarter’s trading. Nokia says it aims to break even in the first quarter of 2012.
There was also bad news for Symbian; the company said changing market conditions and its increased focus on Lumia smartphones meant it was likely to sell fewer Symbian devices than previously anticipated.
Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO, said “The fourth quarter of 2011 marked a significant step in Nokia’s transformation. Most notably, in Q4 we introduced new mobile phones and smartphones, which resulted from the strategy shift in our Devices & Services business. In the war of ecosystems, clearly there are some strong contenders already on the field. And with Lumia, we have demonstrated that we belong on the field. 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. And, while we progressed in the right direction in 2011, we still have a tremendous amount to accomplish in 2012, and thus, it is my assessment that we are in the heart of our transition.”
In total, Nokia sold 417 million mobile devices in 2011 - an 8% drop on its 2010 figure.