Sales for basic phones dropped considerably for Nokia during the first three months of 2013, which helped to overshadow the positive performance of its Lumia smartphone line. The Finland-based company said its operating margins would contract and that helped its stock prices to fall rapidly.
Nokia has lagged behind rivals Apple and Samsung in smartphone unit sales. The company announced it recorded sales of 5.6 million units during the first quarter for its Lumia, which was an increase of 21% over its 4.4 million sold during the last three months of 2012. The Lumia sales were in line with Wall Street analysts expectations.
Nevertheless, its net sales overall fell by 20% to finish the first quarter at $7.67 billion. The company saw a 30% drop in phone volume compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.
Nokia investors are becoming impatient with the company about seeing positive results. The pressure is building on CEO Stephen Elop, who began with Nokia during 2010 to lead the company’s turnaround.
Elop decided in early 2011 to switch to using the untried Windows software as Nokia’s operating system. He announced he would need a two-year period to see results from his turnaround efforts, however that time has passed and now questions are being raised as to how long he will remain on if the company’s results do not become better.
