Nokia gives gloomier outlook for global mobile phone market

HELSINKI: Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, on Thursday lowered its outlook for the global cell 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 goliath 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 percent 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.

Nokia chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in the statement that "2009 will be challenging for our industry" but insisted his company had "a strong, enviable base to build on and I believe we will continue to strengthen our position on many fronts."

Following its announcement, Nokia saw its stock price swell 2.36 percent in early afternoon trading on the Helsinki stock exchange, which was up 1.32 percent.