Nokia mobile phone sales fall 19% in Q1

24-4-20009 Nokia reported sales of 93.2 million mobile phones in the first quarter, down 19 percent year-on-year and down 18 percent from Q4. Nokia underperformed the broader market, as the company estimates global mobile device sales of 255 million in the quarter were down 14 percent from a year ago and down 16 percent from Q4. The company's highlight for the quarter was the XpressMusic 5800 phone, which has shipped over 3 million units since launching last November. Nokia's average selling price dropped to EUR 65 per phone in Q1, from EUR 71 in Q4 and EUR 79 a year ago, as consumers shifted to cheaper handsets and Nokia saw a decline in its smartphone sales. On a geographic basis, handset sales were down 13.2 percent year-on-year in Europe to 22.3 million and fell 17.3 percent in Asia-Pacific to 28.2 million. North America was the only growth area, where sales rose 31 percent to 3.4 million phones. Nokia estimates its global market share was unchanged versus Q4 at 37 percent, and the company forecast a sequential increase in market share in Q2.