Nokia sales are down despite new smartphone launches

Nokia confirmed today that it sold 8.2 million Lumia Windows Phone devices in the fourth quarter of 2013. That figure represents a decline of 600,000 from the third quarter in which Nokia sold 8.8 million Lumia handsets. The fall comes on the cusp of the sale of the majority of Nokia’s hardware assets to Microsoft, meaning that the slip is more Microsoft’s problem than Nokia’s. But it is a weak indicator for the larger Windows Phone platform that was showing signs of gathering momentum.

Nokia released its fourth quarter 2013 earnings on Thursday and, despite a number of new smartphone launches over the past few months, the company noted a decline in sales. The company’s phone business, which Microsoft is in the process of acquiring, reported a five percent decline in sales quarter-on-quarter. Nokia sold 8.2 million smartphones during the fourth quarter, down from 8.8 million sold in the third quarter of 2013. “The decline in Smart Devices net sales was due to lower volumes, affected by competitive industry dynamics including the strong momentum of competing smartphone platforms, as well as our portfolio transition from Symbian products to Lumia products,” Nokia explained.