Nokia has lowered its outlook for the global mobile phone market this year and offered a bleak forecast for 2009.
'The mobile device market slowdown has continued more rapidly than previously expected,' Nokia said, adding that it 'now estimates that fourth quarter 2008 industry mobile device volumes will be lower than the previous estimate (it gave last month) of approximately 330 million units.'
That in turn 'would result in full-year 2008 industry mobile device volumes below the earlier estimate of 1.24 billion units,' the company said in a statement issued at its capital markets day in New York.
The mobile phone behemoth also said there was 'insufficient visibility' to confirm its previous outlook for its own market share in the fourth quarter, which had been expected to be flat or slightly up from the 38% it reported in the previous quarter.
For 2009, Nokia said it expected that the worldwide 'mobile device market will continue to be negatively impacted by the effects of a slowdown in consumer spending'.
'While noting the extremely limited visibility, Nokia expects 2009 industry mobile device volumes to decline five percent or more from 2008 levels,' the company said, adding that it now expects 'the four billion mobile subscriptions mark to be reached in the first quarter 2009.'
The Finnish company also said its mobile device market share was likely to increase in 2009 compared to this year, including an increased share in smartphones.
