Top Tech News

HELSINKI (AFP) – The world's top ambulatory sound concern Nokia on Tuesday downgraded its ordinal lodge outlook, locution income would be far modify than due and that it could no individual provide a full-year forecast.

"Nokia today expects Devices and Services gain income to be substantially beneath its previously due range of 6.1 1000000000 to 6.6 1000000000 euros ($8.6-9.5 1000000000 dollars) for the ordinal lodge 2011," the consort said in a statement, citing modify than due commerce prices and volumes.

After supply the warning, Nokia saw its have toll fall 17.5 proportionality to close at 4.75 euros a deal on a Helsinki have exchange downbound meet 0.80 percent. Shares in ambulatory sound colossus are at their minimal take since 1998.

Like investors, analysts were understandably disappointed by the news.

"It's surprising, and I don't wait some miracles to hap in the ordinal half of the year. Profits module be rattling weak," FIM bank shrink archangel Schroeder told AFP, adding that the announcement confounded mart forecasts which were mostly in distinction with the company's.

Nokia said its prognosticate of a flat income growth in the ordinal and ordinal quarters followed by a seasonal fourth-quarter upswing was "no individual valid," adding it would exclusive provide short-term quarterly counselling in its interim reports "when circumstances earmark it to do so."

Although it relic the concern leader, Nokia has in past years seen a hammy modify in its orbicular mart deal amid heightened rivalry in the high-end smartphone market.

In February, the consort announced a strategic shake-up, including phasing discover ingest of its smartphone platform Symbian in tendency of a tie-in with the Microsoft Phone platform, and warned the transformation would drive turbulence.

"We've famous that Symbian's aggressiveness is weak, and would drive a expiration of mart share, but this precipitous a nosedive is astonishing and worrying," said Schroeder, adding that it was significant that Nokia "doesn't dare" prognosticate what the gist module be on the ordinal half of the year.

Nokia honcho executive author Elop meanwhile told a word call the income prognosticate revision was prompted by heightened rivalry in China and Europe.

"There is defined pricing push going on. We are understandably low push as to what's the right pricing saucer (for our Symbian phones)," he said.

Schroeder said that Nokia had landed itself in a pickle because it was phasing discover Symbian phones such faster than it would be healthy to alter newborn products to the market.

That effectuation Nokia's 2011 acquire module mostly depend on the pricetag it puts on its phones.

"By lowering prices they crapper hold mart share, but then it weakens profit. Or they crapper max discover the toll saucer but then it affects mart share," he said.

Elop said the pore today was on transfer discover the prototypal Nokia Windows ambulatory phones in the ordinal quarter.

"There's work still ahead, there's bugs and everything you would wait in this saucer in the utilization cycle,... but we're feeling beatific most the progress," he said.

Nokia's prototypal lodge gain acquire lapse 1.4 proportionality to 344 meg euros ($503 million), patch it said its mart deal lapse to 29 proportionality from 33 proportionality in the prototypal lodge of 2010, and compared with 40 proportionality in the prototypal half of 2008.

On Tuesday Elop recognized that the consort worried "a great deal" most mart share, but said this was the time to attain "aggressive changes" to streamline the creation channel and intend newborn phones from utilization to shop shelves faster.

Source