Nokia expects industry mobile device volumes in 2007 to grow by up to 10%, topping the 1 billion mark for the year. During Q4 2006, Nokia shipped a record 106 million mobile device, up 19% sequentially and 26% year on year. Overall industry volumes for the fourth quarter 2006 reached an estimated 290 million units, up 19% sequentially and year on year.
In converged devices, according to Nokia estimates, the total industry volume reached approximately 24.6 million units for the fourth quarter 2006, compared to an estimated 17.8 million units in the fourth quarter 2005. Nokia's own converged device volumes for the fourth quarter 2006 grew to 11.1 million units, compared to 9.3 million units in the fourth quarter 2005. Almost 6 million Nokia Nseries multimedia computers were shipped in the fourth quarter.
"Nokia was able to increase its share of the global device market significantly in 2006 to an estimated 36%, clearly solidifying our number one position in the industry," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO.
Some highlights from the company's financial report:
- Nokia's fourth quarter 2006 net sales increased 13% to EUR 11.7 billion, compared to EUR 10.3 billion in the fourth quarter 2005. At constant currency, group net sales would have been up 12% year on year. Nokia's fourth quarter 2006 operating profit increased 11% to EUR 1.5 billion.
- The average selling price of Nokia's mobile devices declined in the fourth quarter 2006 to EUR 89, compared to EUR 93 in the third quarter 2006 and EUR 99 in the fourth quarter 2005. Sequentially, our ASP was impacted by a lower percentage of sales from our higher end products, specifically from our Multimedia business group, that more than offset the relatively stable ASPs in our entry-level product sales. The year on year decline in our ASP was driven primarily by the strong growth of the emerging markets, which have lower ASPs, and the growth of Nokia's market share in those markets, in addition to which certain higher-end products in our portfolio were not viewed as sufficiently competitive in various markets.
