Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) may see light up ahead because of its higher Lumia sales during the first three months of the year, but at least one analyst sees problems ahead. FIM analyst Michael Schroder issued a report to investors after last week’s earnings report focusing on the company’s slumping mobile phone business.
He pointed out that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s market share in the mobile phone segment collapsed 31 to 26 percent in only three months. Average selling price for Nokia’s low-end phones was between 28 and 31 euros during the previous quarter.
All of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s low-end phones showed declining volumes, especially in the lowest part of its portfolio. Even full-touch Asha phones posted an almost 50 percent sequential decline. Schroder admits that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is planning on releasing cheaper devices soon, but he said “reversing the trend will not be an easy task.
He made some adjustments to his estimations for Nokia based on falling sales of the company’s low-end phones. He pushed the operating margin for the company’s Nokia Siemens Networks up to 7 percent from 6 percent. He also increased Lumia market share from 4 percent to 5 percent and lowered the company’s mobile phone market share to 22 percent from his previous estimate of 29 percent. His target price for the stock is 3.9 euros per share, and he reiterated his accumulate rating on the stock.
As of the moment of this writing, shares of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) were up .63 percent at the New York Stock Exchange.
