Nokia sees mobile market to grow by 10% in 2010

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia expects 2010 growth of mobile market stronger than expected by analysts, while stressing that the price of handsets continue to decline next year. The world's biggest maker of mobile phones said Wednesday expect a volume increase of approximately 10% market share next year, higher than analysts' consensus which gives 8.6%. Nokia said its market share would be unchanged in 2010. "As we approach 2010, global market for mobile devices to stabilize and grow more in areas where Nokia enjoys competitive advantages," said in a statement the new CFO, Timo Ihamuotila. Nokia aims for its mobile handset division had an operating margin of 12 to 14% next year, according to one reached this year but less than 20% over previous years. "I feel that consensus rather revolved around the top of this range, so it is slightly negative," said Nicolas von Stackelberg, analyst at Sal. Oppenheim. The value is Nokia missed the rebound Scholarships since March and shows a fall of 20% since the beginning of the year, investors do not believe in showing the range of 'smartphones' group, one of most dynamic segments of the market for mobile telephony.  



For comparison, the sector index, which Nokia is the most important component, posted a 17% increase over the period. SLOWING DOWN FOR THE PRICE OF HANDSETS "We have three objectives for 2010: implementation, implementation, implementation", said Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, during a speech to the shareholders in general meeting. He added that the group had reduced the costs of its mobile division of one billion euros per year. Nokia, like all its competitors, has suffered from declining consumption expenditure of households induced by the recession and increased competition in the upscale market. The group has however suggested that business conditions would experience a slight improvement, suggesting a deceleration of the decline in average selling prices for handsets in 2010. "Building on a slower decline of these prices is a surprise, especially given the incredible pressure on margins ahead in smartphones," said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight. Rival Samsung Electronics said Monday it was on track to exceed its target of selling mobile phones this year spurred growth in sales of touchscreen devices. Nokia said that the number of touch-screen models in its catalog was experiencing a rapid increase. The Finnish group has increased its investments in mobile Internet services in recent years to better compete with smartphones from Apple and RIM, the maker of Blackberry. Niklas Savander, who heads the division of Mobile Internet services, said that the downloads on Ovi Store, the online shop Nokia, approached the threshold of one million per day. The group's goal to have 300 million active users of these services for a turnover of at least two billion euros by the end of 2011.
"Today, I am more confident than a year ago on our ability to achieve this goal of two billion in 2011," Niklas Savander continued.