Telecom Lead Asia: Phone major Nokia says its India revenue in 2012 decreased 22 percent to €2.227 billion from €2.923 billion in 2011.
Nokia’s revenue includes sales from Nokia devices, Nokia Siemens Networks and location & commerce businesses.
Globally, Nokia’s revenue declined 22 percent to €30.176 billion from €38.659 billion in 2011.
According to a PTI report, this is the second consecutive year that the Finnish phone major reported decline in annual revenue from India business. The decrease in revenue is mainly due to increasing competition and currency fluctuation.
Nokia is betting big on its Asha and Lumia range of phones for success in India. Nokia says 2013 will be a good year for the company as it will unveil several new solutions for customers in India and globally.
Nokia is also seeing the emergence of various local mobile device manufacturers that are strong in a certain country or region, especially in emerging markets. Success of such competitors could adversely affect sales of its mobile devices in various countries such as China, Indonesia and India where Nokia has been traditionally strong.
In the phone business, Nokia competes with the market leader Samsung, Sony, LG, Apple, BlackBerry, etc, while Nokia faces competition from market leader Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, ZTE, etc. for gaining marketshare in telecom infrastructure business.
India is the second biggest market for Nokia, after China.
In fact, Nokia’s devices strategies in China did not work out well as the income decreased 79 percent. The decrease in Greater China net sales was primarily due to Smart Devices business unit, most notably lower net sales of Symbian devices. The decrease in Greater China volumes was due to Smart Devices business unit, most notably lower volumes of Symbian devices as well as lower volumes of Mobile Phones devices.
“The year 2012 was one of transition for Nokia. While the first half of the year was challenging, our execution against a focused business strategy started to translate into financial results in the final three months of the year,” said Nokia spokesperson.
In 2010, Nokia’s net sales in India were €2,952 billion. Nokia in a report mentioned the impact of currency fluctuation on its revenue.
“The majority of our non-euro based sales are denominated in the US dollar, but our strong presence in emerging markets like China, India, Brazil and Russia also gives rise to substantial foreign exchange exposure. The Indian rupee depreciated by 2.3 percent against the euro,” the report said.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the struggling company, scrambling to raise cash and cut costs amid deepening losses, raised €170 million by selling the suburban-Helsinki building to Finnish property investor Exilion Capital Oy and agreeing to lease it back on a long-term basis. The deal, which Nokia first said it was pursuing in October, follows a move earlier in the fourth quarter to raise €750 million in a bond offering.
During 2012, the telecom infrastructure market saw slight growth in capital expenditures in Euro terms by global mobile operators, mainly attributable to operators in Japan, Asia Pacific and North America but it was offset by declines in Europe, China and India.
