Nokia, the world’s number one mobile phone maker, said it made a loss for the quarter from July to September, the first time that has happened since 1996.

It was a surprise for analysts who were expecting slightly improved profits. The main reason was a 908 million euros writedown in the value of its division that makes mobile phone exchanges and networks, which is a joint venture with Germany’s Siemens. The Finnish firm lost almost 559 million euros during the third quarter. In the same period last year it made a one billion euros profit. Nokia also said the average selling price of its phones fell to 62 euros from 72 euros a year earlier, and sales were down by eight percent. Its market share of so called smartphones – the most sophisticated, more expensive and most profitable devices – was down to 35 percent from 41 percent in the previous quarter. But Nokia now expects the number of phones sold overall this year to be down seven percent from last year. That is better than its earlier forecast which was for a 10 percent decline.More about: Mobile Telephony, Nokia, Telecommunication

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