The world’s largest mobile phone company makes roughly two out of every five mobiles sold globally. It said it expected the number of phones sold to increase by 10%, from the 1.14bn phones sold last year. But the Finnish group explained that the overall value of the market would be lower than in 2007 thanks to the weak dollar, the economic slowdown in the US, and “some economic slowdown in Europe”. Shares in the company dropped 10%.
Nokia also expects the average price of mobile phones to decrease this year because of intense competition in mature markets. Nokia’s downbeat trading outlook came as its announced first-quarter results, which missed analysts’ forecasts. Profits for the three months to March were up 25% on last year to €1.2bn (£962m) but that was less than some analysts had forecast. Sales rose 28% to €12.7bn.
“Nokia’s new headquarters are separated by only one street from its previously-established production base. Beijing, marking the birth of the world’s first mobile phone industry chain fully integrating research and development, management and production, as well as sales, according to Xinhua Net.”
see story — http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6396868.html
It is true that the economy will play a part in whether someone can afford a new mobile phone or not. I do believe, however, that with the rise of the mobile internet, people will want to upgrade their existing phones to take advantage of it, and unlimited data plans with internet functionality are going to drive new growth, especially in places like the US where the mobile internet is just getting started.