FollowIn 2011, Nokia entered into a partnership with Microsoft and replaced the old Symbian OS. Nokia has since then trying its best to make up on the losing grounds. Apple’s iOS is very stable and has huge fan following and Android has taken over numero uno position as the best mobile platform operating system.
The Windows Phone OS is exclusively available on the Lumia series of phones from Nokia. In this year, Nokia managed to sell 7.4 million Lumia devices all over the world in the second quarter of the year. By this, Nokia managed to achieve the best ever sales for Windows Phone OS powered devices. However, the sad thing is that it still made a net loss.
The sales of Nokia phones made net sales of €5.70 billion which is nothing $7.4 million. Nokia made a net loss of €278 million which is less than the loss that Nokia made in the last year – a loss of €1.53 billion. The second quarter has been good for Nokia as it managed to attain record sales of $7.4 million by selling Windows Phone OS powered Lumia phones. Still it is 27% less than 10.2 million sales which Nokia made in the last year. Out of 10.2 million sales, 6.2 million were Symbian (discontinued OS) powered phones while the rest were occupied Lumia phones.
Nokia was once the largest mobile phone manufacturer but Nokia is struggling to keep up with the competition with the likes of Samsung and Apple. In fact, now Nokia is facing competition from lesser known brands from China and Nokia. According to Nokia’s chief executive, Stephen A. Elop, the company is going through a tough phase, however they are aiming to remain in focus and do hard work and they are excited about the positive things that are happening.
Now Nokia is holding the position of third largest mobile phone manufacturer. However, unlike Samsung and iPhone that are raking in moolah through premium smartphones, Nokia Is now relying on cheaper handsets. It is only now that Nokia has started making higher-end phones like Lumia 920, Lumia 928 and soon the Lumia 1020, a 41 megapixel camera phone.
Out of the total number of Windows Phone OS available in the market, 85.4% of the phones are from Nokia. And this percentage is steadily increasing. However, the overall market share is predominantly occupied by Android and iOS and the percentage of Windows Phone came down to 3% from 3.2% in the second quarter. On the other hand, the leading giants namely Android which occupy 52.4% and iOS which occupy 39.2% have both gained.
The operating margins of Nokia which recently took over Seimens 50% stake have risen to 11.8% which is more than Nokia’s expectation of 5%. Elop said that the start of the year was difficult, however in the second quarter Nokia has show signs of recovery. Elop added they are encouraged by the response received by the customers for the innovations they have brought to them. The company aims to bring better product in the market and increase its competitiveness.
