Nokia returns to profit but sales keep dropping

Struggling Nokia Corp. turned a net profit of (EURO)202 million ($270 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $1 billion a year earlier, but revenue fell 20 percent as it failed to make gains in the fiercely competitive smartphone market.The Finnish company said Thursday that revenue dropped to (EURO)8 billion ($10.6 billion) from (EURO)10 billion as smartphone sales plunged 55 percent, and it gave a grim outlook, saying it would not pay a dividend for 2012 to save money.The company's shares plunged more than 4 percent to (EURO)3.33 in Helsinki.Nokia expects operating margins in the first quarter to be "approximately negative 2 percent, plus or minus four percentage points," citing increased competition and lower-than-expected demand for its flagship Lumia phones and cheaper Asha models, which have been popular in emerging markets.Nokia said it sold 15.9 million smartphones in the quarter, down from 19.6 million a year earlier, including 4.4 million Lumia phones. In comparison, rival Apple Inc. sold almost 48 million iPhones.Neil Mawston, a technology expert from Strategy Analytics in Boston, said Nokia's share of the global smartphone market had fallen to a record low of about 3 percent.The Lumia line-up has been seeing lower-than-expected performanceClick here for full story