HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. declared itself the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, as the company’s mobile phone net sales increased by 94 percent to $2.6 million during the third quarter.
“Lower than anticipated price erosion in mobile phones and rapid digitalization in the Americas resulted in higher-than-expected sales and profitability,” said Jorma Ollila, president and chief executive officer of Nokia. “In September, we sold more than 1 million handsets in one week. Based on our strong performance and preliminary market data for the first nine months of 1998, we now feel confident in declaring that we have significantly increased our market share in mobile phones to become the largest manufacturer of mobile phones worldwide.”
Nokia said it continued to strengthen its market position on all continents, with especially strong growth in the United States. Nokia said mobile-phone sales volumes are increasing due to the growing upgrade market, today representing more than 30 percent of the overall mobile phone market. During the first nine months of 1998, more than 80 percent of the Nokia mobile phones sold were digital.
On the infrastructure side, net sales for the third quarter increased by 42 percent to $1.2 million, said Nokia. Sales were especially strong in China and Europe.
“Stronger than anticipated subscriber growth, combined with an increase in minutes of usage in certain advanced markets, resulted in a number of operators announcing an acceleration of their plans for network buildout and capacity increases in the coming years,” said Ollila.
