Nokia today announced better than expected earnings for its fourth quarter of 2009. The Finnish OEM saw a 65 rise in net profit for the quarter. The company reported a net profit of $1.3 billion, up from $806 million a year ago.
According to an earnings released posted on the company's Web site, Nokia 's converged mobile device volumes, comprising smartphones and mobile computers, hit 20.8 million units in the fourth quarter 2009, compared with 15.1 million units in the fourth quarter 2008 and 16.4 million units in the third quarter 2009. The company says its share of the converged mobile device market was an estimated 40 percent in the fourth quarter 2009, up from an estimated 35 percent in the third quarter 2009.
Nokia shipped about 4.6 million Nseries handset and about 6.1 million Eseries devices during the fourth quarter of 2009, up from the combined 8.9 million Nseries and Eseries devices shipped in the third quarter of 2009.
The company's network division, which operates under Nokia Siemens Networks, saw a decline of 16 percent to $5 billion, compared with $6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. Nokia said the drop was due to challenging competitive factors and market conditions.
Ovi Store, Nokia's mobile content shop, put up impressive numbers. Ovi is now attracting more than 1 million downloads a day.
Julien Blin, founder of JBB Research, said in a research note that the company's numbers for the quarter are not only surprising but bode well for an OEM that's up against some stiff competition.
"The fact that Nokia's market share in the smartphone market grew to 40 percent from 35 percent is quite impressive and highly unexpected, especially given the increased level of competition from companies like LG, Samsung, Apple, Palm, RIM, and HTC," Blin said.
Additionally, Blin thinks Ovi's new free navigation service will be a strong point when combined with increased participation in North American markets. "The fact that Nokia is now offering its mapping service for free could help the handset vendor drive the popularity of its smartphones, especially in the U.S.," Blin wrote.
Nokia owns Navteq and uses its navigation software to power turn-by-turn navigation for its smartphones.
Nokia shares were up a point in early morning trading to $13.93 per share from the close yesterday of $12.93.