Nokia loses close to €1b as Windows phone sales fall
Chief executive claims punters waiting for mobile version of Windows 8, due later this month.
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Nokia shares [NAS:NOK] slumped close to 5% today as it posted a €969 million third-quarter loss.
The loss was blamed on sales in the company's flagship, Windows-based Lumia series falling to 2.9 million from 4 million in the previous quarter.
Revenue fell 19% to €7.2 billion for the three months ending September 30.
It was the first reversal of fortune for the Lumia series, developed in partnership with Microsoft and released last year. Previously, Lumia handset sales had doubled every quarter.
In an interview with the New York Times, chief executive Stephen Elop said people were delaying purchases under the release of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software later this month (current Lumia handsets cannot be upgrade to run the new Windows Phone software).
The Finnish company has now lost a culmulative €4.5 billion since it allied with Microsoft in February 2011 in a bid to win back smartphone market share lost to Apple and handset makers using Google's Android software.
In January, Mr Elop announced a plan to lay off 21,000 staff, or around one third of the company's global workforce.
Nokia previewed its flaship Windows Phone 8 handset, the Lumia 920, last month.
The event was undermined by controversy when Nokia admitted photos and video used to demonstate the product weren't in fact taken on a 920.
NBR staff
Fri, 19 Oct 2012
Fri, 19 Oct 2012
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Nokia loses close to €1b as Windows phone sales fall
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