22 Jul 2011

Nokia deep in the red

9:01 am on 22 July 2011

Nokia has plunged into the red as sales fell and margins were squeezed in the second quarter.

The giant mobile phone company lost $US521 million in the three months to the end of June, with sales falling 7%.

Nokia has lost ground to Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android operating system.

It had warned that second quarter results would be disappointing.

The company is expected to roll out a substantial portfolio of Windows operating system based products next year, but some analysts fear the company may be relying too heavily on the upcoming range.

Once the leader of the smartphone market, Nokia shipped 16.7 million handsets in the quarter, compared to 20.3 million iPhones by Apple.

Chief executive Stephen Elop admits the latest figures are disappointing.

Earlier this year, Nokia announced 7000 job cuts worldwide as part of strategy to focus on smartphones.

The company hopes that the job cuts and restructuring will help produce savings of 1 billion euros by 2013.