Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, reported a lower-than-expected drop in fourth-quarter earnings today and forecast strong first-quarter sales as it improves its range of handsets.
"The past year was demanding for Nokia," Chief Executive Mr Jorma Ollila said. "(But) I believe we are now better positioned to meet future challenges."
"If we look at the volumes of our competition, I think that we beat them left and right (in 2004)," Mr Ollila told a news conference.
Fourth-quarter earnings fell to €0.23 per share from €0.25 a year ago, but easily beat the Finnish company's forecast of 0.16 to 0.18 and the average and median of market forecasts of €0.19.
Nokia shares jumped on the result, up 8 per cent at €11.85 by noon and powering the DJ Stoxx European technology index 3 per cent higher.
The result brings a brighter end to what has been a grim year for Nokia.
It warned in April it was losing handset market share due to a patchy product portfolio and spent subsequent months cutting prices to halt and partially reverse the damage as it hurried to bring out more attractive products across all levels of the market.
But it announced seven new handsets in the fourth quarter, the first deliveries of nine new models and said it aims to launch 40 new models in 2005.
And the company said today fourth-quarter net sales and earnings had beaten forecasts thanks to record volume sales, a stabilisation in average selling prices and a better than expected performance by its networks infrastructure business, where sales were up 12 percent at €1.91 billion.
Sales volumes for handsets and other mobile devices rose 19 per cent to 66.1 million units, to give a global market share of 34 per cent for the quarter and 32 per cent for the full year, Nokia said.