Nokia warns on profits as it delays ‘iPhone killer’; shares plunge

“Nokia has warned on profits as it battles to compete with bitter rivals Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and Apple, as well as the growing threat from handsets based on Google’s Android platform,” Richard Wray reports for The Guardian.

“Shares in the Finnish firm plunged almost 14% as it announced worse-than-expected results over the first quarter, when it was forced to slash its prices,” Wray reports. “There is speculation that further price cuts could be on the way as it battles to maintain its market share.”

“It confirmed the widespread speculation that it has delayed the launch of devices based on the newest version of its Symbian mobile phone software,” Wray reports. “The company has yet to produce a handset that can compete directly with Apple’s iPhone in the very top end of the smartphone market and there are hopes that the Symbian^3 software platform will enable Nokia to regain some of its former magic.”

Wray reports, “But Nokia said in its statement today that while it plans to launch the first smartphone based on the platform in the second quarter of this year, shipments are not expected until the third quarter, three months later than the market had hoped. The phone in question is widely believed to be the Nokia N8, a touchscreen phone that has a mammoth 12-megapixel camera. Nokia hopes it will compete head-on with the next generation of the iPhone – expected in the summer – as well as Android handsets such as Google’s Nexus One…”

MacDailyNews Take: Oh, how, oh, who will they ever manage to compete with the Nexus One?

We grow tired of all the ill-concieved attempts of “journalists” to incessantly, nonsensically, and moronically equate also-rans with Apple. Therefore, a reality break is in order:
• Gizmodo: Google’s rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ is a total flop – March 16, 2010
• Goldman Sachs chops 2010 unit sales estimate for Google’s rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ from 3.5m to 1m – March 08, 2010
• Screen Test: Apple’s iPhone 3GS LCD gets the part over Google’s rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ OLED – February 22, 2010
• Google’s rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ sales slow; Just 80,000 units sold in first month – February 05, 2010
• And so it begins: Google discounts ‘Nexus One’ by $100 – January 16, 2010
• Google rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ phone leaves string of disappointed customers in its wake – January 14, 2010
• Google rebadged HTC ‘Nexus One’ phone limps into market; only 20,000 units moved in first week – January 13, 2010
• Google’s HTC ‘Nexus One’ phone sparks deluge of complaints; Epic failure for Google – January 13, 2010

Wray continues, “Today’s results showed how desperately the company needs a so-called ‘iPhone killer’ … ‘We continue to face tough competition with respect to the high end of our mobile device portfolio, as well as challenging market conditions on the infrastructure side,’ admitted chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.”

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iPhone is ‘niche product.’ – Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, April 17, 2008

Wray continues, “The company warned that it expects operating margins in its devices and services business to be between 9% to 12% in the second quarter of 2010, compared with 12.1% in the first quarter and 15.4% in the last quarter of 2009. There is speculation that the company is planning price cuts of up to 10% in an effort to regain market share.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Welcome to Dell-land, Nokia. You won’t be able to make it up in volume, either.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Too Hot!” for the heads up.]