Nokia reports £787m loss but shares rise

Nokia's shares have risen sharply in Helsinki, despite a record sixth consecutive year where the Finnish company made a loss

 

Nokia announced today that sales of its flagship Lumia range during its third quarter are down 19% from the same period last year. In real terms, the company shifted 2.9 million phones compared to 4 million in 2011.

The latest figures make for disappointing reading, especially considering Nokia was the biggest manufacturer of phones in the world for more than a decade. But the Finnish firm continues to lag behind the likes of Apple and Samsung in the innovation (and marketing) department.

But hold on just a second, there could be light at the end of the tunnel. Shares in Nokia increased in value by 9 percent following the announcement thanks to better-than-expected results and a licensing agreement struck with Amazon.

Nokia and Amazon agreed a deal in back August to bring Nokia Maps exclusively to the Kindle family of tablets.

Part of the reason for Nokia's ropey financial performance this year is the announcement that Microsoft would not update existing WP7 Lumias to Windows Phone 8.

Nokia chief Stephen Elop stated the slow down in the second half of the quarter was due to users holding out for the WP8-toting Lumia 920 and 820 handsets arriving from early November.

The Finnish company continues to ship feature phones and posted Q3 sales of 76.6 million units - up four per cent quarter-on-quarter. But again - that total is still down 15 percent year-on-year.

Back in smartphone land, Microsoft is due to announce Windows Phone 8 on October 29^th where they are expected to openly demonstrate the new Nokia Lumia smartphones amongst their other device manufacturers.

Source : rss[dot]feedsportal[dot]com

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini price revealed?

Samsung's Galaxy S3 Mini, a 4-inch version of its flagship handset, is to be price at about £300, according to mobile phones site Clover

 

The Carphone Warehouse and mobile phones site Clover are among the first manufacturers to announce details of pricing and pre-orders of the Galaxy S3 Mini, which Samsung launched in Germany yesterday.

Clover has listed it at £298.80, while highstreet retailer Carphone Warehouse is offering the device for pre-order, although they haven't allocated a price-point just yet.

Galaxy S3 Mini: Specs

The phone largely shares the same features as the S3, such as Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, S Voice, Smart Stay, S Beam. Specs-wise it has a Dual Core 1GHz chipset, 5MP AF + LED Flash camera, 8Gb of memory (boostable up to 32GB with a MicroSD card), and a 4.0-inch WVGA Super AMOLED screen.

Simon Stanford, vice president, telecommunications and Networks Division, Samsung UK and Ireland, said: “The award winning Galaxy S3 has been extremely well received globally since it launched earlier this year so we are thrilled to be able to offer our customers the same revolutionary design, intuitive usability and intelligence in a mini version.

"We will continue to develop smartphones to cater for a variety of customer needs and this latest release demonstrates our ongoing commitment to offering our customers more choice at every price point.”

Source : rss[dot]feedsportal[dot]com