Nokia rings up profit

By Alun Williams

Posted on 23 Jan 2003 at 16:02

The Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia has seen profits by more than fifty per cent. For its full financial year it reported profits increasing by 54 per cent, to £2.17bn (€3.38bn).

In the handset arena, the company shipped 33 new products in 2002. With record sales of 46 million units, it also estimates its market share to have grown to 39 per cent. According to Nokia, the mobile phone market returned to growth in 2002. With a market volume of 405 million handsets, it estimates an increase of five per cent on the figures for 2001.

'During 2002,' said the Nokia chairman and CEO, Orma Ollila, 'we again succeeded in translating our strong brand, product offering, industry-leading execution and operational efficiency into highly profitable results. While the world economy had an inevitable impact on Nokia's topline growth, our overall profitability and market position were excellent.'

Ollila also highlighted the uptake of the Series 60 platform, which he claimed had established itself as the leading platform for smart phones.

Looking ahead, Nokia expects market conditions to remain 'challenging', but expects its first-quarter sales of Nokia mobiles to grow by as much as nine per cent.

You can read more financial figures on the Nokia Web site.