Nokia still in the red in Q3 sales bloodbath

Windows mobes couldn't come soon enough

Microsoft newlywed Nokia stayed in the red with an operating loss of €71m (£62m) in its third quarter ended 30 September 2011.

That's a smaller figure than the company's Q2, when Nokia lost a gigantic €487m (£425m), which CEO Stephen Elop at the time blamed on its new strategy bringing with it "ambiguity" for the firm's customers reeling from the Microsoft tie-up.

The Finnish handset maker, which struck a deal with Redmond in April to build several Nokia Windows phones together, shipped 18 million dual-SIM devices during the quarter.

Smartphone sales dropped 38 per cent, with the company shifting 16.8 million devices that were based on Nokia's old Symbian platform.

Elop said that the company's "channel inventory situation" and "sales execution" had improved in Q3.

However, total sales tumbled 13 per cent to €8.98bn compared with €10.27bn for the same period a year earlier.

"I am encouraged by the progress we made during Q3, while noting that there are still many important steps ahead in our journey of transformation," said Elop.

"With each step, you will see us methodically implement our strategy, pursuing steady improvement through a period that has known transition risks, while also dealing with the various unexpected ups and downs that typify the dynamic nature of our industry.

"During the third quarter, we continued to take the action necessary to drive the structural changes required for Nokia's long-term success."

Nokia is expected to launch its first Windows-based handset next week, but volume shipments of the devices won't appear until 2012.

Shares in the firm rallied more than 10 per cent to €4.9, following Nokia's Q3 announcement, its best stock exchange performance in months.

The full results are here. ®