Nokia upbeat on Asian growth despite global woes
Nokia upbeat on Asian growth despite global woes
Agence France-Presse Singapore
The Asia-Pacific region is set to consolidate its position as the leading source of growth for the world's biggest telecom equipment maker Nokia, a senior executive of the company said Monday.
The region's technology-savvy consumers will continue to be the biggest buyers of the latest in the Finnish company's mobile phone-related offerings, Nokia president for mobile phones Matti Alahuhta said.
"Going forward, we continue to see a promising trend in the region as Asians are among the largest consumers of mobile phones and services in the world," Alahuhta said in a speech on the eve of CommunicAsia 2002, the region's biggest telecoms trade fair.
In 2001, the region accounted for 26 percent of Nokia's total revenues of 31.2 billion euros (US$29 billion), up from 23 percent in the previous year, and Alahuhta said the growth trend was set to continue.
"This region therefore remains a key focus and fast growing mobile marketplace for Nokia," he said without giving projections.
According to Alahuhta, the region's mobile phone subscribers in 2001 stood at 310 million, about a third of the 930 million users globally.
He said the region was expected to continue to show "good growth this year in terms of handset volumes."
"In fact, we believe that year 2002 is the second consecutive year in which the APAC (Asia-Pacific) market volume is the highest of the three geographic regions, surpassing both Europe and the Americas," he said.
Nokia's share prices were shaken last week after it forecast a drop in second quarter sales.
It maintained its previous earnings prediction but its weaker- than-expected mid-quarter update was enough to send other telecommunications stocks across Europe reeling.
In the update ahead of its second quarter earnings report on July 18, Nokia said it expected net sales in the second quarter to drop 2.0-6.0 percent year-on-year to 6.9-7.2 billion euros, compared to earlier forecasts of 2.0-7.0 percent growth.
Worst hit was Nokia's networks division, where the group predicted second quarter sales would drop 20-25 percent, compared to the same period last year. Earlier forecasts were for a drop of 5.0-10.0 percent.
However, the group's mobile phone division would fare better, Nokia said.
It forecast handset sales in the second quarter would grow by zero to 4.0 percent year-on-year, compared to a previous estimate of 5.0-10.0 percent.
The Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the main battleground in the mobile phone business in the next few years as handset sales taper off in more mature markets like North America and Europe.
According to U.S.-based Pyramid Research, which specializes in the communications sector, Asia will account for 45 percent of all mobile phone subscribers in the world by 2006.