Nokia

Study: U.S. mobile phone sales down 13 percent

Sue Marek — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:20:32 -0400

A study by NPD Group says that U.S. consumers purchased 28 million mobile phones in second quarter, a 13 percent decline over the same period a year ago. The firm estimates that total sales were $2.4 billion, down 2 percent year over year. NPD says that Motorola managed to maintain its lead but its unit sales share dropped 6 percent from first quarter. Motorola led the U.S. sales with 21 percent of the market, Samsung and LG both had 20 percent share and tied for second and third place, fourth place went to Nokia with 9 percent and RIM with 7 percent. Release

Sony Ericsson may not turnaround until 2010

Sue Marek — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:09:58 -0400

Analysts are painting a grim short-term outlook for Sony Ericsson. Neil Mawston, handset analyst with Strategy Analytics, says that the handset maker may see a bump in sales over Christmas, however, with mobile device sales in Europe being flat, he predicts that it will be another year or two before Sony Ericsson bounces back. The company is suffering from a poor product portfolio and minimal presence in emerging markets such as India, where millions of new phone users are added every month.

Sony Ericsson has finally starting ramping up its presence in booming markets in Asia--the company created a new division in India--but many fear it may be too late.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
Recession to hit Nokia and Sony Ericsson sales - iPhone unaffected
Sony Ericsson's 2Q profits sink, 2,000 workers cut

Nokia unveils fancy carbon fiber phone

Sue Marek — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:52:48 -0400

Nokia unveiled a new high-end mobile phone, the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte that is made of carbon fiber, titanium, polished glass and stainless steel. The phone has a unique tap-for-time feature that lets consumers tap the steel surface below the display and a clock appears on the screen. The 3G phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera and 4GB of memory.

But all these special features come with a special price. The phone retails for about $1,620 and will be available in Europe in the third quarter. Check out a photo slideshow of the pricey phone here.

Nokia isn't the only OEM using carbon fiber for its handsets. LG introduced the "Secret" handset earlier this year which is made of carbon fiber and tempered glass.

For more:
- see this article

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Mobile World Congress: Nokia unveils 4 phones
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Forum Nokia recognizes innovative developers

Sue Marek — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:22:11 -0400

Forum Nokia recognized eight developers as part of its 2008 Innovation Series. The series recognizes small- and mid-sized developers for offering interesting and previously unavailable services for Nokia phones. Check out the winners here.

Nokia cuts handset prices

Sue Marek — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:21:59 -0400

Handset maker Nokia has reportedly reduced the prices on many of its music and multimedia phones by up to 10 percent. The price cuts are surprising considering the company reported strong second quarter results last month. During the second quarter, Nokia increased its market share to 40 percent, up from 38 percent in the prior year.

However, Nokia's average handset selling price continues to drop. The company attributed the decrease to higher volumes of cheaper phones being sold in emerging markets and the impact of the weak dollar. During the second quarter Nokia's ASP dropped to $117, down from $125 in the first quarter and down from $143 in the same quarter a year ago.

For more:
- see this report

Related articles:
Nokia's outlook for 2008 is good, market share is up
Report: Handset shipments topped 287M in Q2

Chart: Telecom infrastructure vendor revenues for 2Q 2008

Mike Dolan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:03:41 -0400

Here is a roundup of telecom infrastructure vendor revenues:

Nokia gains patent victory over Qualcomm in Germany

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:36:04 -0400

As a key trial between Qualcomm and Nokia begins today over WCDMA patents, Nokia gained some ammunition in Germany. The German Federal Patent Court ruled that a Qualcomm patent pertaining to GSM phones was invalid and threw out Qualcomm's case against Nokia. The lawsuit was filed back in 2006, but delayed at Qualcomm's request.

"Nokia believes that this case is illustrative of the ongoing patent debate around open standardization. As an increasing number of technologies are integrated into new products some patent owners try to claim high compensation for patents that lack merit," Nokia said in a statement.

A U.K. court and the International Trade Commission have also ruled in Nokia's favor, saying Qualcomm's GSM patents are invalid. The GSM patent lawsuits between the two companies primarily stem from the impasse the two have over a patent agreement that expired in April 2007 pertaining to royalties Qualcomm charges for WCDMA chips. Both companies have filed a flurry of patent lawsuits against each other for both GSM and WCDMA in various U.S. states and across Europe.

For more:
- read Cellular-News

Related stories:
Nokia, Qualcomm head to court this week over CDMA patents. Nokia/Qualcomm story
Qualcomm-Nokia lawsuits continue to fly. Lawsuit story
Nokia sues Qualcomm in Europe. Nokia-Qualcomm story

Nokia, Qualcomm head to court this week over CDMA patents

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:57:07 -0400

The simmering battle between Qualcomm and Nokia is heating up again as the two technology giants head to court on Wednesday to determine whether Qualcomm's charges of royalties for CDMA are too high. While the trial won't likely settle the dispute the two have over a patent agreement that expired in April 2007 pertaining to royalties Qualcomm charges for WCDMA chips, it could offer the winner of this trial some leverage in that dispute.

At issue on Wednesday in a Delaware court is whether, as Nokia contends, Qualcomm forfeited its right to seek injunctions in lawsuits to enforce patents because it promised European standards-setting bodies to license its patents under fair and nondiscriminatory terms. Nokia also claims that it is paid up on Qualcomm's key patents while the rest should be valued much less when taking Nokia's own patents into consideration.

Of course, Qualcomm says Nokia is wrong about the worth of those other patents and its "fair and nondiscriminatory" agreement with standards bodies. It contends that Nokia extended their existing license agreement by default by using Qualcomm inventions after the agreement expired.

Vendors have long grumbled about the amount of royalties Qualcomm charges for CDMA-based patents. Nokia and Qualcomm have been filing a number of lawsuits in the U.S. and Europe against each other over patents since 2005.

For more:
- read the WSJ (sub. req.)

Related stories:
Qualcomm-Nokia lawsuits continue to fly. Lawsuit story
Nokia sues Qualcomm in Europe. Nokia-Qualcomm story

Nokia's outlook for 2008 is good, market share is up

Sue Marek — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:01:40 -0400

Nokia surprised analysts this morning with better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Although the company's profit was down ($1.75 billion compared to $4.49 billion a year earlier) most of that difference was because the 2007 results included a $2.98 billion gain from the formation of Nokia Siemens Networks. On the good news front, Nokia said that its global market share for handsets is at 40 percent, up from 38 percent a year ago. In addition, the company upgraded its forecast for the global handset market saying that mobile device volumes could grow more than its previous estimate of 10 percent in 2008.

On the negative side, Nokia's handset average selling price continues to drop because of higher volumes of cheaper phones being sold in emerging markets and the impact of the weak dollar. Nokia's ASP was $117, down from $125 in the first quarter and down from $143 in the same quarter a year ago. The company also said it had lost some share of the smartphone market in the second quarter, but said it was due to a lack of smartphones in its portfolio. Nokia executives said that will improve in the second half of the year because the company plans to introduce 10 new smartphones.

In the U.S. market, where Nokia has been weak, the firm saw some improvement thanks to two handsets, one that is offered by T-Mobile USA and another by AT&T. Nokia executives expect this to improve even more as the company has had its first CDMA handset approved by Verizon Wireless for use on its network.

Nokia Siemens Networks meanwhile continues to focus on lowering expenses and improving margins. Nokia executives said that the market is difficult because of competition but that management is focusing on being profitable rather than attaining market share. The joint venture finished a quarter with surprisingly strong revenue growth of 18 percent to $6.45 billion over the second quarter of 2007, which was the first reporting quarter for the company.

For more:
- see this press release

Related articles:
Nokia's profit up 25% but outlook cautious
Recession to hit Nokia and Sony Ericsson sales - iPhone unaffected

Mary McDowell - Top Women in Wireless

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:56:54 -0400

Mary McDowell

Executive vice president and chief development officer at Nokia

After spending 17 years at HP-Compaq, Mary McDowell decided to make the foray into wireless in 2004 when she joined Nokia as executive vice president and general manager of the company's enterprise solutions group. During her time there, she oversaw the development of the Nokia Eseries of mobile devices.

In her current role, she heads the corporate development office and oversees many areas including mobile software sales and marketing and IT. With Nokia's growing emphasis on applications and software, McDowell is now on the forefront of many company initiatives, including Nokia's recent $410 million acquisition of the remaining interest in Symbian and its plans to make Symbian's software into an open source platform and make it available to members for free.