Nokia Lose 17% of its stock market in one day

Nokia First-Quarter Sales Miss Forecast; Shares Drop (Update2) Listen April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest mobile- phone maker, said first-quarter sales fell 2 percent, missing its forecast, as handset sales fell in Europe and Asia, leading to a profit drop. The stock lost as much as 17 percent. Sales fell to 6.6 billion euros ($8 billion) from a year earlier, Espoo, Finland-based Nokia said in a statement to the Helsinki exchange. It previously expected sales to rise 3 percent to 7 percent. Nokia said first-quarter profit was 17 euro cents a share, at the low end of a target range of 17 cents to 19 cents. Nokia earned 20 cents a share a year earlier. ``This is a big disappointment,'' said Frank Heise, who helps manage $133 billion at Union Investment in Frankfurt, including Nokia shares. ``The company runs the risk of a credibility problem because until very recently Nokia's comments regarding phones were quite upbeat.'' Nokia, which makes almost two out of every five handsets sold, lost market share after failing to introduce new products quickly enough. Revenue slid in 2003 and 2002 as Western markets became saturated, prices slipped, the dollar fell against the euro and competition from the likes of Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. increased. Nokia's volumes rose 19 percent in the quarter while the market as a whole surged 25 percent, Nokia said, blaming ``certain gaps'' in its product range. Nokia shares fell as much as 2.95 euros to 14.40 euros and traded at 14.57 euros at 3:53 p.m. in Helsinki. Before today, the stock was up 26 percent this year. Phones Demand Sales at Nokia's main unit which makes less costly phones and the Multimedia division that makes handsets with music players and cameras lagged expectations, Nokia said. ``Missing the sales forecast is a complete surprise,'' said Duco Frie, who helps oversee the equivalent of about $175 million at Nyenburgh Asset Management in Amsterdam, including Nokia shares. ``It's somewhat worrying that they seem to be struggling to gain market share in Asia, where the biggest growth in the mobile-phone industry is coming from.'' At the Enterprise Solutions unit, which makes phones for corporate use, sales beat expectations, the company said. Sales at the network unit jumped a greater-than-expected 16 percent to 1.4 billion euros from the year-earlier quarter, according to the release. The operating margin, or operating profit as a percentage of sales, beat Nokia's expectations at the Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions and Networks divisions, the company said without elaborating. At the Mobile Phones unit, lower-than-expected volumes and ``product mix'' hurt sales and operating profit. ``While our product portfolio in the first quarter was not at its strongest, we believe that during the year we will see improvement as we bring new products to market,'' Chief Executive Officer Jorma Ollila said in the statement. ->http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news...p_world _news __________________ Very sad from Nokia. __________________ hope Nokia learn their mistake.... __________________ This remind me the story of Ericsson. They was number 1 and then they fell... BTW, Nokia will become a US company soon. Some financial newspapers say that the company's head quarter will be relocated in New York. __________________ when was Ericsson number 1? they had good sales in the 90's but Motorola was always number 1, after Motorola became Nokia the king of mobile phones... Soon Ericsson might become number 1... __________________ Quote: BTW, Nokia will become a US company soon. Some financial newspapers say that the company's head quarter will be relocated in New York. Not likely. In US many people believe that it is Japanese company :-) Well it has been somewhat US company for years, but now there is no point to change to a weak USD having quite strong EUR. Motorola still rules in US Mavi forum