Sales slump and €115m operating loss for Nokia in Q2

Handset shipments down more than a quarter, but Lumia sales spike provides crumbs of comfort

With handset shipments down by more than a quarter year on year, Nokia endured a big sales slump and a nine-figure loss during another tough quarter for the embattled vendor.

For the second calendar quarter, the Finnish firm saw net sales decline 24 per cent annually to about €5.7bn (£4.9bn). Operating losses stood at €115m, but this compares with an €824m loss during the corresponding period last year. In the course of the past 12 months the mobile vendor has also seen its net cash pile decline by €130m; as of 30 June it stands at €4.07bn.

During the quarter device unit sales plummeted 27 per cent annually to 61.1m, with all regions suffering hefty declines. But there was better news for its flagship smartphone, the Lumia, which saw sales grow from 6.1m in Q1 to 7.4m in the second quarter.

Despite the headline declines and losses, chief executive Stephen Elop claimed he was "pleased to report an underlying profit for the fourth consecutive quarter". He added that the firm's "mobile phones business unit started to demonstrate some signs of recovery in the latter part of the second quarter following a difficult start to the year".

"Lumia [sales] volumes... [were] the highest for any quarter so far, showing increasing momentum for the ecosystem," said Elop. "During the third quarter, we expect that our new Lumia products will drive a significant part of our smart devices revenue."