Nokia posts financial losses across the board in 2008

The 2008 fiscal year proved to be a rocky one for the mobile industry. While some handset makers actually managed to grow their business, most took hits to sales revenues and market share. Even the world’s largest mobile phone maker, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), saw their 2008 finances adversely affected by a deteriorating global economy. The bean-counters in Espoo have released their latest financial data for the 2008 fiscal year, and things have definitely looked better for Nokia.

Nokia’s Q4 2008 bottom line fell 19.7% short of the previous year’s Q4 sales revenues, declining to €12.7 billion. Decreased year-on-year revenue was linked to dwindling handset sales. Nokia posted overall device and services revenue of €8.1 billion, making for a 27% decline compared to the same period last year.

Worst of all, Nokia saw its industry-leading 40% global market share eroded to just 37%, riding on the back of a 61% loss in operating profit that had Nokia netting just €983 in 2008 (compared to €2.5 billion in 2007).

Says Nokia CEO Kallasvuo, “In recent weeks, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated rapidly, with even weaker consumer confidence, unprecedented currency volatility and credit tightness continuing to impact the mobile communications industry. We are taking action to reduce overall costs and to preserve our strong capital structure. This is clearly our top priority in the current economic environment. However, it is important for Nokia to continue investing at the proper pace in future growth.”

Nokia is expecting even worse for the coming months of 2009, but is apparently looking to weather the storm and get back to market domination shortly thereafter.

Nokia financials (PDF link)