Nokia on Thursday reported yet another disappointing quarter in what has been a string of losses for the Finnish cell phone manufacturer. The company's net earnings were down 21 percent in the fourth quarter, and Nokia reported a net profit of $1.02 billion, down from $1.3 billion in the same quarter last year.
While total sales were up 6 percent to $17.2 billion, the company's market share continued to dwindle in the face of stiff competition from the likes of Apple, Research In Motion (RIM), Motorola and HTC, among others. Nokia's market share fell to 31 percent from 35 percent a year ago.
The company's new CEO, Stephen Elop, who took over for Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, was candid about the company's weaknesses in a recording of the call posted on the company's website. "Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution," Elop said.
In the past week, Nokia has reportedly canceled two major launches with carriers in the United States. While nothing has been confirmed by Nokia, the OEM has reportedly canceled launch of the Nokia X7 smartphone and Nuron 2, with AT&T and T-Mobile USA, respectively.
Elop said that the industry has changed and Nokia needs to "change faster" to keep up with the competition. Still, Elop said in global markets where there are a high number of existing Symbian users, the company is seeing a high rate of users returning to the platform.
Sales rose 6 percent to euro12.6 billion ($17.2 billion), but the company's margins were down.
Shares of Nokia dropped quickly following the company's earnings call last night, dropping nearly 7 percent. The stock had gained some in early morning trading and was trading at $10.54 as of 9:45 a.m. Central time.