Nokia predicts fall in sales

Nokia has revised its sales forecasts for the end of the year. The telecoms provider now expects to sell 20 million fewer handsets in the fourth quarter than originally predicted.

The announcement was made in the form of a brief 'early warning' note which precedes a more detailed report on December 4th. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO, predicts the company will sell only 330 million handsets in the last three months of the year, which will mean total sales of 1.24 billion handsets in 2008, rather than the original estimate of 1.26 billion.

Kallasvuo said that, in the past few weeks, the global economic slowdown combined with unprecedented currency volatility has impacted global consumer spending. He added that the mobile device market has also been negatively impacted by the more limited availability of credit.

Nokia is planning to cut costs in order to balance its books. Kallasvuo's statement said Nokia will "curtail use of external contractors, consultants and professional services". It will also reduce its operating expenses.

No mention has yet been made of the company's acquisition strategy: up until now Nokia has been buying up Mobile 2.0 companies to add to its portfolio. It is not yet known whether Nokia plans to pursue its strategy of developing into a software-and-services company, which was originally pursued in an attempt to ward off the threat from Eastern manufacturers.