Nokia sets shipment records, predicts more growth
The company had a record sales volume of 46 million mobile handsets in the December 2002 quarter, out of an estimated total of 117 million units. Nokia shipped 152 million handsets during 2002 and introduced 33 new products, incorporating color screens, imaging, multimedia, mobile games and polyphonic ring tones.
Full-year sales for Nokia Mobile Phones remained flat compared with 2001, at EUR 23.2 billion, reflecting good growth in Europe and Asia Pacific, offset by a sales decline in the Americas. In addition, handset sales in the second half, while reaching very high volume growth, tended towards the mass-market end of the product portfolio. In 2003, first-quarter sales for Nokia Mobile Phones are estimated to grow by 0-9% year-on-year.
According to Nokia s preliminary estimates, the mobile phone market returned to growth in 2002 with overall market volumes reaching about 405 million units. This represents growth of more than 5% compared with volumes in 2001 of around 380 million units.
Market volume continued to grow year on year in Europe and Asia Pacific, both rising by about 8%. Demand in the Americas is also estimated to have grown, by approximately 4%, compared with the previous year.
In 2003, Nokia expects to see total market volumes grow by 10% or slightly more, reaching a level of at least 445 million units. Earlier in the week, Motorola gave a forecast of 430-440 million units for 2003. Motorola also estimated that the industry shipped 115 million units in the fourth quarter of 2002, and expects a drop to 90-95 million units in the March 2003 quarter.
Nokia also estimates that the global subscriber base has grown to 1.125 billion users and projects this number to exceed 1.5 billion in 2005. In addition to new subscribers, revenue growth will primarily be driven by MMS, already launched by around 100 major operators, and other advanced services based on openness, global roaming and interoperability.