After a year of slumping sales, the world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia has reported better than expected fourth quarter and 2004 results, prompting hopes that the company is on the road to recovery.
Nokia's reported net profit of just over ¦1 billion in the fourth quarter and ¦3.2 billion for all of 2004 beat forecasts but showed declines of 13% and 11% respectively from the previous year.
The mobile phone giant said it had sold a record 66.1 million handsets in the fourth quarter, giving it 34% of the world market, down from 37% in the same period a year earlier, but up from 32% in the third quarter.
However, Nokia said sales of its handsets in North America were disappointing and that it will be cutting 350 US jobs and revamping its range of handsets for the North American market.
For the whole of 2004, the company said it sold a record 207.7 million units, resulting in an estimated market share of 32%.
It predicted sales worth ¦7-7.3 billion, well ahead of analysts' expectations. Nokia warned in April that it was losing market share as its handsets had failed to keep up with consumer trends, and spent the rest of the year cutting prices to limit the damage.
