ontarioguy
12-06-2003, 21:07
[SOURCE TORONTO STAR]
Nokia Corp., the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, said today that sales of equipment for cellular networks are likely to fall by as much as 15 per cent this year, reflecting the depressed state of the telecom industry.
Nokia's chief executive Jorma Ollila said the company hasn't seen any signs of recovery in the systems market.
The company's cellphone unit is performing as expected, Ollila said at a meeting for analysts and investors.
The comments came a day after Nokia said growth in sales of its handsets could be at the low end of its earlier forecasts for the current quarter. The company cited a European economic slowdown, the U.S. dollar's slide and lingering fears about the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia.
Nokia said growth in sales of its cell phones would likely be on the low end of the four to 12 per cent range for the second quarter that it previously forecast.
Today, the company said it expects the number of mobile subscribers worldwide to reach 1.6 billion in 2005, a slight increase on an earlier estimate of 1.5 billion. Currently, there are about 1.2 billion subscribers globally.
Ollila said the higher forecast reflected subscriber growth in emerging markets, including Asia. China overtook the United States as the world's largest market for mobile phones last year with about 130 million handsets.
Ollila said about 60 per cent of the sales of new phones will be by customers who are upgrading their current phones.
Nokia also said it expects a 10 per cent increase in global handset sales by all manufacturers this year from the 405 million sold in 2002.
Nokia leads global sales of mobile handsets with about 35.8 per cent of all mobile phones sold, according to Gartner Dataquest.
In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Nokia's U.S. shares were up three cents to $17.74 (U.S.).
Nokia Corp., the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, said today that sales of equipment for cellular networks are likely to fall by as much as 15 per cent this year, reflecting the depressed state of the telecom industry.
Nokia's chief executive Jorma Ollila said the company hasn't seen any signs of recovery in the systems market.
The company's cellphone unit is performing as expected, Ollila said at a meeting for analysts and investors.
The comments came a day after Nokia said growth in sales of its handsets could be at the low end of its earlier forecasts for the current quarter. The company cited a European economic slowdown, the U.S. dollar's slide and lingering fears about the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia.
Nokia said growth in sales of its cell phones would likely be on the low end of the four to 12 per cent range for the second quarter that it previously forecast.
Today, the company said it expects the number of mobile subscribers worldwide to reach 1.6 billion in 2005, a slight increase on an earlier estimate of 1.5 billion. Currently, there are about 1.2 billion subscribers globally.
Ollila said the higher forecast reflected subscriber growth in emerging markets, including Asia. China overtook the United States as the world's largest market for mobile phones last year with about 130 million handsets.
Ollila said about 60 per cent of the sales of new phones will be by customers who are upgrading their current phones.
Nokia also said it expects a 10 per cent increase in global handset sales by all manufacturers this year from the 405 million sold in 2002.
Nokia leads global sales of mobile handsets with about 35.8 per cent of all mobile phones sold, according to Gartner Dataquest.
In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Nokia's U.S. shares were up three cents to $17.74 (U.S.).