Nokia grabs 40% of global handset market, nets $2.6 billion in Q4

Although it does sound as if the much protested plant closing in Bochum, Germany will indeed leave around 2,300 workers sans a job, the street was still loving what Nokia had to talk about today. In its latest earnings report, the firm announced that it raked in €15.7 billion ($22.76 billion) in revenues and €1.8 billion ($2.6 billion) in net profit from October to December 2007. Furthermore, the firm managed to move a record 133.5 million handsets in the aforementioned period, which is up some 27-percent from Q4 a year earlier. That sales surge enabled the handset maker to grab hold of 40-percent of the global cellphone market, and apparently, bigwigs at the company aren't expecting things to plateau in 2008. Needless to say, things are pretty spirited in Helsinki right about now, so feel free to tag the links below for even more jaw-dropping figures.

Read - Nokia 4Q profits up 44 percent, market share reaches 40 per cent
Read - Nokia's Q4 2007 report

[Satish @ Jan 24th 2008 6:38PM]

I love my E62...

[Mike @ Jan 25th 2008 2:39PM]

And I love my Nokia Xpress Music 5300.

[Fernando @ Jan 24th 2008 9:06PM]

I love all the loving in this post!

[Doug @ Jan 25th 2008 7:46AM]

Glad you like your E62. It was design in the US, but don't expect any more from there. Nokia layed off that group almost 2 years ago.

[BiG� @ Jan 24th 2008 6:44PM]

doesn't surprise me at all. After years of being an SE fan, and having given up on Nokia's within a month, I've been converted by my N73. And despite being a honest-to-goodness mac fanboy, I'm quite happy not owning the iPhone.

[xbit @ Jan 24th 2008 6:45PM]

Apple must be very jealous. I wouldn't swap my Nokia N95 8GB for anything!

[austin @ Jan 24th 2008 6:55PM]

the only phone i would trade an iphone for would be an N95

maybe an N82

[Scott @ Jan 24th 2008 7:19PM]

1998 called. They want their non-touchscreen, non-qwerty keyboard phone back.

Funny how N95 fans list all the features but never mention it uses a 10-key keypad and a D-pad for input. Sorta like my Nokia 5110--from 1998!

[xbit @ Jan 24th 2008 7:31PM]

I like being able to use my phone one-handed. I think it's a great "feature".

[Scott @ Jan 24th 2008 9:13PM]

If you haven't noticed many qwerty phones and even the iphone are perfectly able to be used one-handed.

However when you want to use your N95 for all it's feature-completeness, say to type in an email, email address, map address, web address, appointment, etc you get to use that one handed as well--whether you want to or not!

[nikster @ Jan 25th 2008 1:54AM]

Nothing wrong with the N95 except the software. I have a 5 year old 6600 that has the exact same software, and it looked pretty old then!

[xbit @ Jan 25th 2008 3:26AM]

"If you haven't noticed many qwerty phones and even the iphone are perfectly able to be used one-handed."

As as iPod touch user, I would not want to use the iPhone one-handed to type. It's almost possible, but not at the risk of dropping your phone and/or typing really slowly.

"However when you want to use your N95 for all it's feature-completeness, say to type in an email, email address, map address, web address, appointment, etc you get to use that one handed as well--whether you want to or not! "

If you really need QWERTY then the N95 supports a wide range of Bluetooth keyboards. For short messages, T9 really isn't such a terrible thing.

[Dhomas @ Jan 24th 2008 6:52PM]

"Needless to say, things are pretty spirited in Helsinki right about now"
Not to nitpick, but isn't Nokia based in Espoo?

[nikster @ Jan 25th 2008 1:57AM]

Things are always pretty spirited in Finland.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6106570.stm

[eurobloke @ Jan 25th 2008 2:51AM]

Kyllä. Nokia ei ole Helsingissä, se on Espoossa, Uusimaassa.

[Reality @ Jan 24th 2008 6:53PM]

That iPhone is really on a roll... imagine Nokia's marketshare if Apple had gone with a carrier that has a real 3G network; say, Verizon. Nokia's marketshare would be, well, 40%. Going with a weak 2G carrier was genius.

[Joseph Singer @ Jan 24th 2008 7:53PM]

Despite an Amerco-centric view that Verizon is "it" the majority of the world doesn't care about Verizon's CDMA network when over 2.5 billion use other GSM networks and Nokia has 40% of that market. The only market where Nokia isn't "it" is in North America.

[Skullfighter @ Jan 24th 2008 7:56PM]

@Reality
Dude, this is an article about Nokia. What does the iPhone sales have to do with this? They have sold 2 million and they are worried it won't reach the 10 they had predicted.

Reality Check. (Pun Intended)

[roole @ Jan 24th 2008 10:25PM]

Just a factual observation. Apple has sold 4 million iPhones as of last week, and in the recent earnings call, the CFO reiterated the company's confidence on being on track to sell 10 million. Let me know if you'd like the links to either/both.

[bachviet @ Jan 25th 2008 12:25AM]

Why go with a 3G carrier when the f**king phone doesn't even have 3G chip. It was released with 3G GSM carriers in Europe but it only works on GSM/EDGE network.

[giodelgado @ Jan 25th 2008 2:29AM]

It actually works with 3G, the N95-3 that is. DUH

[quiksilv3r @ Jan 24th 2008 6:54PM]

i couldn't bring myself to shell out enough money for an N95...which would have been 10x better than my tilt

[Das @ Jan 24th 2008 6:57PM]

Not a cellphone but I have to say I love my n800.
Best portable browser outside of a UMPC and I've got KDE 3.5 installed just for kicks.

[Curtis @ Jan 24th 2008 6:59PM]

Hurray! Now everyone that was whining about Engadget not reporting on Nokia's earnings can stop whining!

[Quipuha @ Jan 24th 2008 7:09PM]

Engadget: Where is the MSFT earnings!

[fred @ Jan 24th 2008 7:22PM]

They are waiting until 9:00pm like they did the LAST time!

But to no surprise they had Apple's the minute they were available.

[Curtis @ Jan 24th 2008 9:20PM]

Haha they have Microsofts up now to! I would also like to request Chef Boy RD's as well...(sorry for the spelling, I have no idea how to spell RD)

[go seki @ Jan 24th 2008 7:13PM]

What stands out for me is the single black-spot in the Handset figures. http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1184821 North America experienced a 5.6% decline over 2006. Its the only market where Apple's iPhone has any real market share, and where Nokia has limited penetration.
If Nokia fix this then prospects for 2008 and beyond can only be great. On the other hand perhaps they consider the North American market too immature for their better products?
I would really like to see the figures for Japan too, as they seem to have no market presence there either. That market is the opposite of the US. Yes local handset makers dominate, but their products are far more sophisticated to match the market.

[Niz @ Jan 24th 2008 7:49PM]

Im not surprised, Nokia has it right they have a wide range of phones catering from £20 to £500 to £whatever. Ive owned about 8 phones my life and 6 have been Nokia, used to have a Nokia e50 awesome phone never let me down, not many people have it, probably because of the camera (1.3). Nokia have got it right with their smartphone software. I have a HTC s710, nice feature rich phone not too expensive but the number of problems ive had!! I would have went for one of the N series but theyre too expensive :(, the e-series is hte next best thing, e51 probably next for me.

[Gope @ Jan 25th 2008 9:03AM]

From Nokia 1100 to Vertu ;)

[MusicLifeSon @ Jan 24th 2008 8:08PM]

my N800 absolutely MURDERS your iPod Touch

[Dwaine @ Jan 24th 2008 8:39PM]

For the past few year I went thru Windows Mobile devices XDA, HP 6125, PDA2K and a copple other devices. I like that I could use the same software from device to device. What bothered me was that I had to keep buying software to make the device work.
So one day I figured I try a N73 for the camera and after a few months I now have and love my eBay purchased N95-3 with a 4gb sd card.
Better games, more mature (I swear) software, no bluetooth problems, true one-handed operation, god audio quality, an opertaing system that doesn't need tons of additional software and a much better mobile web that any WM device.
I'm a Nokia convert, until Apple gets the iPhone right (good camera/video, G3.5, user replacable battery, ect).

[Ix @ Jan 24th 2008 8:40PM]

The spelling was very bad on the previous post. Sorry.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jan 24th 2008 9:04PM]

So, when Steve Jobs bragged about selling "20,000 iPhones a day" I doubt the folks in Espoo had much to worry about, considering they were selling that many phones every 25 frikkin minutes.

[resource @ Jan 24th 2008 9:05PM]

Nokia still doesn't have a marquee phone.

One that is THE phone to end all phone.

N95 is ok but the screen is too small and it doesnt have qwerty pad.

[Scott @ Jan 24th 2008 9:17PM]

But you can use it one handed! Apparently that makes up for having to rely on predictive text and the d-pad for everything.

[Jon @ Jan 25th 2008 3:30AM]

What is wrong with d-pad? It works. And well too.

Unlike the Iphone, which I didn't find to be intuitive. But to each his own. Just because you can't handle a d-pad (fat fingers?), doesn't mean others can't.

[Pdexter @ Jan 25th 2008 9:09AM]

There isnt end of all phone from anybody and never will probally.
For me it would be iphone screen, Nokia's haptic feedback system(that will hopefully find it's way to first S60 touch phone), slap iphones TS on it, lag free and Symbian s60 5th edition aka S60 touch.
But then i'm sure someone will say now that why in a hell would you want s60....so there isnt end of all devices ever. There might be some good tries thought ;)

[pilot101 @ Jan 25th 2008 12:15AM]

i think nokia phones are great, only thing i regret in the states is the higher tier nokia phones aren't carried by any providers. T_T. you have to pay an arm and a leg to just obtain unlocked gsm versions.

[Rick @ Jan 25th 2008 12:17AM]

My N73 is the biggest, heaviest, ugliest, clunkiest, slowest, shitiest phone I've ever had the misfortune to use. But the screen is a nice size.

[amby @ Jan 25th 2008 2:51AM]

Agreed. I'm quite surprised so many people were "converted" by the N73. It's amazingly slow (although the camera was a godsend at that time) - I used it for half year and made me seriously considering switching to some other vendor or back to non-smartphones (S40, which just works).

Then I've tried the N82 ... OMG, OMG, OMG! :-) Fastest Nokia phone ever, great camera, great flash, ligthning fast GPS. And then I made a mistake by buying an N95 8GB because of the screen size. It's good. Very good. But whomever is considering buying a phone, the N82 is much better (and perfect upgrade after an N73).

[Pdexter @ Jan 25th 2008 9:25AM]

Agree if you want phone with all the stuff that N95 has(+ best flash and overall camera phone in market or so says gsmarena and cnet)and screen size dosent matter or you arent going to do much of browsing, N82 is a no brainer.

[E-man @ Jan 25th 2008 2:06AM]

I Love My E90:
- 800 pixels wide lush bright screen
- tactile QWERTY
- 3G
- GPS
- 128MB internal memory
- one hand operation possible

Can't beat that combination. Now waiting for my 8GB MicroSD.

Never had any issue with the weight or size.

[giodelgado @ Jan 25th 2008 2:26AM]

Thanks Nokia for making a US Version of the N95.

[WhiteStar @ Jan 25th 2008 4:31AM]

We're making money like shit. Let's lay of 2300 workers. Cause, you know, we really need more money.

[E-man @ Jan 25th 2008 5:13AM]

You are referring to the German Bochum factory production being trasnferred to Romania. They are indeed laying off 2300 workers in Germany but those jobs will be greated again in Romania. What do you have against Romania, shouldnt they get a chance in hightech manufacturing? I'm guessing you're German.

In a time period of five years, the average price of Nokia's phones has decreased 35% while the work expenses in Germany have increased 20%. Also, the Bochum plant creates 23% of Nokia's direct laborexpenses while the plant's share of production is only 6%.

If big companies would get as easily sentimental as you get, we wouldnt be fiddling around with our ultra-hightech toys. Which isnt all that bad alternative, I do love living in caves and eating plant roots, but ultimately you just have to make the choice. It's either or, there only so many shades of grey.

[WhiteStar @ Jan 25th 2008 8:10AM]

You're forgetting the financial aid Nokia got from the german government.

What's wrong with getting sentimental about 2300 lost jobs in your country? As if you'd be differnt if it had been your job or someone you know.

[wizzard @ Jan 25th 2008 7:03AM]

So who bought the 0.5 handset then?

[Magallanes @ Jan 25th 2008 11:55AM]

are 0.5 millions = 500'000 devices, not a half device. ;-)

[Pdexter @ Jan 25th 2008 9:19AM]

437.1 million devices were shipped in 2007 compared to 374.5 million in 2006, an increase of 25.8%.....
That is something. Hopefully they will keep producing great phones because other big players are miles behind Nokia.
Even if iphone and Apple is really small player especially globally you got to appreciate the fact it made some kind of impact and hopefully SE and Samsung can fight back to Nokia so we get even better phones than now.
I dont really have any faith for Moto they would need razr like hit and i cant belive they could do something like that agen or be able.