Nokia’s CEO, Stephen Elop, says he is pleased with demand for the Nokia Lumia 920 – but said management are aware of supply problems.
Elop’s comments were made during a conference call just after Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) announced its results for the fourth quarter. The results were more positive than expected, with 4.4 million Lumia devices sold – though Nokia’s executives didn’t mention any figures for sales of the Windows Phone 7 or Windows Phone 8 devices.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) also said that its fourth quarter operating margin will be somewhere in the region of break-even to two percent.
The Lumia 920, Nokia’s flagship device, has been well-received, with demand higher than expected.
Despite the positive sales of the Nokia Lumia 920, Elop admitted that the company “is still dealing with constraints.”
Other fourth quarter results included the sale of 9.3 million Asha units along with 2.2 million Symbian devices. However, Elop said that he expects fourth quarter Symbian device sales to steeply drop when going into the first and second quarters of the New Year. Device and service sales are €3.9bn, with 83.6m units shipping. Total Nokia sales for the fourth quarter will be €4bn.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) was reportedly “very deliberate” and “thoughtful” about early sales momentum of the Lumia devices – indicating they didn’t want to over-invest in supply of a device that may not whip enough demand from consumers.
Elop noted that the supply issues were not entirely down to strong demand, and that component shortages played a role, saying that Nokia was “working with suppliers and operators to work through the situation today.”
Nokia didn’t offer any projections for the volume of Lumia sales in the future. The company is launching the Nokia Lumia 920 in India and China, which will likely see sales figures perk up a bit further. Nokia is currently aiming to get Windows Phone market share to the 10 percent mark.
Although Nokia Lumia sales may seem paltry compared to the combined 20 million which Verizon and AT&T sold in the fourth quarter, these sales results are a positive sign for the Lumia phone and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) – which has been struggling to make a comeback in the smartphone industry.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) also recently announced a successor to the Lumia 920, which should be available in 2013. The company is reportedly designing the next model in the series. Currently code-named ‘catwalk,’ it is likely to be lighter and thinner than its predecessor, with an aluminium body replacing its poly-carbonate one.
On today’s news, Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) shares were up a considerable 10.86 percent, to $3.33 per share.
