The Finnish mobile phone gaint Nokia is fighting to stay relevant in the age of Apple iOS and Google’s Andriod. It appears that its partnership with Microsoft will not be able to save the slide. The Wall Street Journal reports that, “Nokia posted heavy losses as shipments of its new line of Lumia brand phones failed to make up for slumping sales of its older models, but its cash position proved stronger than expected alleviating fears that a rapid cash burn could hamper a turnaround.” The states that, Nokia’s net loss for the three months to June 30 widened to €1.41 billion from €368 million a year earlier, against analysts’ expectations for a €654 million loss, but the company’s reserves of cash improved by €306 million year on year primarily due to receipts from patent licenses and support payments from Microsoft.”
Nokia’s Chief Executive Stephen Elop stated:
Nokia is taking action to manage through this transition period. While the third quarter will remain difficult, it is a critical priority to return our Devices & Services business to positive operating cash flow as quickly as possible.
The company reported that, it has shipped 10.2 million smartphones in the second quarter, down from 16.7 million a year earlier, while total shipments including more basic handsets fell to 83.7 million from 88.5 million. The average selling price of Nokia’s smartphones rose to €151 from €141. Nokia has also shipped four million Lumia Smartphones in the second quarter.
In other news, Microsoft has posted a loss for its fiscal quarter ending June 30th 2012. The Verge reports, “Microsoft has just announced its financial results for the fiscal quarter ending June 30th, 2012, and the company has posted a net income loss of $492 million. Despite record revenue of $18.06 billion for the quarter, the company was weighed down by what it’s calling a “goodwill impairment charge” of $6.2 billion — namely, the write-off of its 2007 acquisition of aQuantive. Aside from that one-time cost, however, Redmond is trending in the precise direction it wants to be: the quarter’s revenue figure represents an increase of 7 percent from the same time period last year, with its operating income of $6.93 billion represents a twelve-percent increase.”
Sources: Wall Street Journal, The Verge
Image Credit: Nokia
