There has been little beyond negative news for Nokia as of late. Over the late summer and early fall, it was nothing but the exodus of executives followed by horrid reviews of its flagship device, the N8. Today we caught wind of news that there were quality control issues with the N8, and so units were just failing left and right leaving users annoyed.
Fitch Ratings just downgraded Nokia’s debt rating and gave it a negative outlook. According to Cellular-News:
Specifically, Fitch Ratings has downgraded Nokia Corporation’s (Nokia) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating to ‘BBB+’ from ‘A-‘ respectively. The Short-term IDR of ‘F2’ is affirmed. The Outlook on the Long-term IDR is Negative.
The reason for the downgrade, according to Fitch, is because of the hardware that Nokia is pumping out and the stiff competition coming from other high-end smartphone makers. Even in the low-end market in China and India, Nokia has some rough seas ahead.
And the Negative Outlook?
The Negative Outlook reflects the risk that the company’s market share may continue to retreat and that margins may come under further pressure as it tries to defend market position.
Next year is going to make or break Nokia. A lot of folks are getting excited about the N9, but that’s as far as we can actually feel for the coming device given what we’re seeing from Apple, HTC, Motorola and even Samsung. Nokia is going to need a killer MeeGo device with the quickness if it intends to stay afloat, let alone thrive and give the competition something to consider.
Given its new direction and new leadership under former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop, it may take a while for Nokia to get back on its feet. But if Peter Skillman and crew can get MeeGo to a state where it can be considered a viable alternative to iOS, Android, webOS and Windows Phone 7, all it would need is some killer hardware – and Nokia is more than capable of cranking that out.
[Via: Cellular-News]