Adriene Hill: Onetime mobile phone giant Nokia had a terrible end to 2011.The company says sales fell 21 percent. It lost more than a billion dollars. And the company’s plan to turn things around by making phones with Microsoft hasn’t dented iPhone’s dominance in Europe. But Nokia says it still believes in the turnaround plan because it hopes a cheaper Windows phone may prove more popular here in the U.S.
In today’s Mid-day Extra, Christopher Werth reports.
Christopher Werth: We all know this sound. [Nokia ringtone]
Nokia used to be one of the most popular cell phones available. But in the smart phone age, its fortunes have lagged against the like of Apple’s iPhone.
Today, the company’s comeback depends on its new partnership with Microsoft. Last year, the pair up launched its latest round of smart phones using Windows software onto the European market. So far it’s sold over a million of the new handsets in Europe.
But Lee Simpson, a tech analyst at the investment bank Jefferies, says Nokia will have to compete in the U.S., and at a better price than the iPhone.
Lee Simpson: If Nokia, or more importantly Microsoft, can crack the U.S. market, then we have a rejuvenated Nokia. If not we possibly have Nokia stuck in this same basement sort of category that it’s been in in the last few years.
Nokia will reportedly launch a new smartphone in the U.S. in March. The price tag? $99.99.
In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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