Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, said today that its first-quarter performance would be at the lower end of its previous forecast range as handset sales slowed and networks weighed on results.
Nokia, closely watched as a barometer for telecoms and related industries, said in its mid-quarter update that sales were now expected to drop slightly compared with the first quarter of 2002 as the company's ailing networks division was expected to post a sales drop of 15 to 20%.
The group's mobile phone sales would also be less buoyant than expected and likely to come in at the lower end of its previous quarterly sales growth target of up to 9%, Nokia said.
Earnings per share were now seen at between 15-17 cent, compared with an earlier range of 15-19 cent.
Given that global uncertainties concerning the telecoms industry are such that markets now prepare for the worst when Nokia reports, today's news was not catastrophic, analysts said.
They said the networks forecast was 'a big disappointment', but added that it plays a relatively minor role for the future of Nokia, which derives more than three quarters of sales from mobile phones.
