Tough economic times, poor handset sales force Nokia to lower Q2 and 2010 forecast

Unable to mount a challenge at the high end of the smartphone market, Nokia said it is lowering its forecast of second quarter and full year earnings for Devices and Services. Besides not having a handset that can compete with the iPhone, Nokia now finds itself having to match up with the new wave of Android Superphones with huge screens and zippy processors. External events hurting performance include the weak world-wide economy and the drop in the Euro. Lower than expected average selling prices for phones and lower profit margins will result in revenue for the second quarter coming in at the low end of the previously forecast 6.7 billion to 7.2 billion Euro range ($8.26 billion US to $8.88 billion US). While the company sees 10% growth in the overall market this year, it expects its own sales to be flat with last year and with the previously mentioned competition in the high end of the market, Nokia sees sales focused on the mid to lower end of its product mix for Q2 and 2010. Second Quarter figures are due out July 22nd. The company has higher hopes for the third quarter when the Nokia N8 is scheduled to be launched with a 12MP camera, 720p video capture with xenon flash, and will be the first device to be powered by the Symbian^3 OS.

Nokia N8 Specifications

source: Nokia