NOKIA will focus on profit development amid falling cellphone market, chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told the Financial Times.
“We will continue to combine market share and margins in the right way in order to maximise the bottom line,” Kallasvuo was quoted as saying in an interview in Helsinki. This in stark contrast to some of its smaller rivals, like LG Electronics, who have said they will do anything to reach their sales targets.
Nokia lost some market share in the second half of last year as it shied away from some fierce price battles.
Cellphone market is expected to see its weakest year in 2009, with analysts forecasting on average for a 6.6% fall in sales volumes.
“When times are tougher, people who have stronger positions fare relatively better than the competition . . . So, overall, I believe many of our competitors will have limitations here in terms of their ability to do things,” Kallasvuo said.
Nokia has said it targets to increase its cellphone market share in 2009, helped by consumers’ appetite for cheaper models.
Nokia has bought a dozen companies including a US$8.1bil acquisition of mapping company Navteq to jumpstart its Internet business as growth in the cellphone market stalls.
Nokia has said it was looking for smaller acquisitions to bolster its Internet services offering, and Kallasvuo said the company did not have “any big pieces missing” in its services portfolio. — Reuters
Source : http://biz.thestar.com.my/
