Nokia shaves Q3 sales outlook

By Susan Rush
From The September 10, 2002 Edition Of CED Broadband Direct

Technology bellwether Nokia expects to meet its profit goal but has issued a warning that it will miss its previously stated third-quarter sales forecast as demand for its network equipment continues to wane.

The company expects to post third-quarter earnings per share at the upper end of an earlier forecast of between 15 cents to 17 cents, amid cost cuts. On a worldwide basis, handset sales are forecast to grow as much as 9 percent compared to the numbers posted in third-quarter 2001. Looking ahead to full-year unit totals, Nokia expects to end the year with 400 million handset units.

Nokia has lowered its third-quarter sales forecast, blaming weak demand in the networks sector. The No.-1 handset maker is predicting sales will come in between $6.94 billion and $7.23 billion. In an earlier forecast, the company had said it expected to post sales in the range of $7.03 billion and $7.4 billion.

Last month, Nokia announced plans to cut 900 jobs from its networks division by the end of the year. At the time of the announcement Nokia said the market for telecom infrastructure remained week, and it was making the cuts to better align the organization with current demand. Network year-over-year sales are expected to dip 5 percent in the third quarter.