Nokia has recently announced that it believes the mobile phone sales volume will increase by 10% in 2010 as the market rebounds following the global downturn. Gartner forecasted an 8.6% year-on-year increase from next year but industry analyst believes that the market will see positive growth rate by end of this year.
During the economic downturn, consumers have cut back on expenses, which dented the sales of mobile phones. But Nokia believes to achieve higher sales volume by next year. Nokia’s CFO Timo Ihamuotila, expressed similar sentiments by stating that “Visibility to the market is a little bit better,"
2009 proved to be an extremely challenging year for Nokia as it suffered its first loss in a decade. Moreover the increasing popularity of smartphones, such as, HTC, Apple and BlackBerry, has posed a serious threat to traditional handsets market.
"Smartphone (volume) growth will be significantly higher," said Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. Whereas, Nokia’s CFO Timo Ihamuotila is positive about the situation and stated: "going into 2010, the overall mobile devices market is stabilising,"
To combat steep competition from other smartphone manufacturers, Nokia plans to increase its revenue by focusing on stabilising the cost of its handsets. Nokia claimed that the average selling price of Nokia's handset has fallen over the past year.
