Nokia is the latest mobile manufacturer to release preliminary quarterly results, which come just a fortnight ahead of the company’s formal full-year announcement on 24th January.
It estimated that 86.3 million mobile devices were shipped in the quarter, including 9.3 million touch-screen Asha handsets, 4.4 million Lumia smartphones and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones. Overall, it believes its Devices & Services business unit exceeded expectations and achieved underlying profitability in the quarter.
Nokia Siemens Networks is also described as having apparently exceeded expectations.
Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO, said “We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services and record underlying profitability in Nokia Siemens Networks. We focused on our priorities and as a result we sold a total of 14 million Asha smartphones and Lumia smartphones while managing our costs efficiently, and Nokia Siemens Networks delivered yet another very good quarter.”