HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia mobile-phone sales rose in the second quarter, but infrastructure sales lagged considerably behind totals recorded for second-quarter 2001. Nokia also lowered its handset sales figures once again.
The company blamed lower-than-expected second-generation equipment investments in China and Europe for the 22-percent decline in sales for Nokia Networks. Sales for the group were US$1.48 billion for the quarter, compared with US$1.9 billion reported for the same period last year.
Mobile-phone sales totaled US$5.43 billion on 36 million units for the quarter, spurred by growth in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, but offset by lower sales in the Americas. The company estimated the 2002 handset volume at about 400 million units sold, down 20 million units from predictions made by the company at the end of the first quarter and down 40 million units from predictions made in January.
Nokia’s net sales for the second quarter ended 29 June totaled US$6.98 billion, compared with US$7.39 billion for the same period last year.
The company experienced a net profit of US$867.8 million compared with a profit of US$593 million for the second quarter of 2001.
Jorma Ollila, chairman and chief executive officer of Nokia, said the company sees a clear shift in the second half of the year toward multimedia products.
“Nokia is preparing for a string of new product launches for the remainder of the year, including a major step in September with the introduction of our first dual-mode W-CDMA/GSM phone and our first 3G network. Depending on operator schedules in W-CDMA networks, we expect the 3G business system to be mature enough for commercial handset shipments by early 2003,” said Ollila.
