Nokia swung to a pre-tax loss of €151 million in the third quarter, as lower sales in its devices and navigation businesses offset growth at its Nokia-Siemens infrastructure joint venture.
The vendor’s net income fell from a profit of €322 million in 3Q10 as revenue from its devices and services division fell by a quarter year-on-year, and navigation business Navteq’s sales declined 4%. In contrast, Nokia-Siemens grew sales 16% year-on-year, however the business remains in the red despite cutting its operating loss from €282 million in 3Q10 to €114 million in the recent quarter.
While the vendor can take some heart from growth in shipments of low- and mid-tier handsets – up 8% to 89.8 million units – the rise was accompanied by a similar (6%) increase in expenses. That situation was reversed in smartphones, with a 38% fall in shipments to 16.8 million units accompanied by a 15% decline in expenses.
Chief Stephen Elop concedes the firm must not let signs of improvement distract it from executing operational changes designed to position it for future growth. “I am encouraged by the progress we made during Q3, while noting that there are still many important steps ahead in our journey of transformation,” he states, adding. “We must continue to focus on consistent progress.”