Nokia has reported it made a profit of $585.7 million (£370 million) in Q4 2012, the first profitable quarter for the former world leading phone manufacturer since Q1 2011.
A large portion of the Finnish company’s profit came from the Nokia Siemens Network, which contributed an operating profit of $334 million (£210 million), with the Nokia’s Device business achieving $367 million (£231 million). Total net sales amounted to $10.7 billion (£6.8 billion).
The earnings call confirmed Nokia sold 4.4 million Nokia Lumia handsets during this Q4 2012, up from 2.9 million in Q3. This suggests that higher margins on its flagship handsets such as the Nokia Lumia 920 are contributing to Nokia’s profit gains.
Selling 6.6 million smartphones overall, or 15.9 million including lower-cost Asha-series sales, Nokia was still down 66 per cent from the 19.6 million shipped last year.
“We are very encouraged that our team’s execution against our business strategy has started to translate into financial results,” commented Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. “Most notably we are pleased that Nokia Group reached the underlying operating profitability in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2012.”
“While the first half of 2012 was difficult for Nokia Group, in Q4 2012 we strengthened our financial position, improved our underlying operating margin in Devices and Service, introduced the HERE brand to expand our mapping and location experiences, and drove record profitability in Nokia Siemens Networks.”
Part of Nokia’s profit gain could be due to its increase in operational performance, with the company downsizing and cutting costs through job cuts and other methods. Going forward it seems Nokia will be aiming on pushing its new line of phones to continue to improve its profits in the coming years against its high-flying competitors.
How successful do you think the Nokia Lumia handsets have been in comparison to its Android and iOS rivals? Let us know in the comments section below.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
