Mobile News

Nokia forecasts 5% drop in mobile phone market in 2009 December 5, 2008

 Nokia has forecast a decline in mobile phone shipments next year as the global economic slowdown curbs consumer demand for new devices. The Finnish handset market expects the market to show a volume decline of 5 percent or more in 2009, the company announced at its Capital Markets Day. Nokia also lowered its forecast for 2008, saying it’s seeing a slowdown in all markets, with even emerging markets showing a more pronounced weakness in the past month. The company now expects fourth-quarter industry volumes to come in below its previous estimate of 330 million phones. As a result, full-year shipments will also fall short of the earlier forecast of 1.24 billion units.

Nokia expects that operator and retail distribution channels will go through a period of destocking next year, resulting in lower sales volumes by manufacturers (sell-in) than purchase volumes by consumers (sell-through) for the industry in the first half of 2009. The company still expects the number of mobile subscribers worldwide to pass the 4 billion mark in the first quarter 2009.