InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[nieves]

Nokia eyes CDMA handset dominance as Q4 profit doubles



RELATED SYMBOLS: (NOK)

Jan 27, 2003 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- Nokia Corp has revealed its desire to
dominate the market for CDMA handsets in the same way that it has cornered that
for GSM terminals.

Speaking at a news conference in Helsinki, Finland to announce the company's
fourth quarter 2002 financial results, Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila said the Espoo,
Finland-based telecoms equipment giant expects to start building its share of
the CDMA handset space this year from an estimated 10% at present towards a
medium-term percentage in line with its global market share.

Net profit for the quarter was 1.0bn euros ($1.1bn), up 132.4% on the year-ago
period, on total sales up 1% at 8.8bn euros ($9.4bn). Net profit for the full
year also grew. It rose 53.7% to 3.4bn euros ($3.6bn) on sales down 3.8% at 30bn
euros ($32.2bn).

Nokia currently controls about 38% of the total global handset market, although
the bulk of this figure derives from its highly successful GSM/GPRS terminal
business rather than from CDMA handsets.

Nokia's renewed interest in CDMA is no doubt related to the global increase in
3G mobile networks based on the Qualcomm-originated technology.

With CDMA networks expected to grow to around 25% of the worldwide handset
opportunity by 2005 - propelled by adoption in Korea and China and helped by the
delayed roll-out of networks based on GSM's natural successor WCDMA - Nokia
needs to build its portion of the space to maintain its overall market position.

However, while the company is continually increasing its CDMA handset range, the
market remains hard to crack. Qualcomm controls the patents, and handsets must
be configured correctly for each operator.

Nokia's opportunities to grow its overall market share must also be limited
given the number of players now active in the global handset business and is key
to Nokia, which is more dependent on handset sales than its closest rivals,
Motorola, Samsung Electronics and Siemens.

Nonetheless, the company reported record unit volume of 152 million units in
2002, an increase of 9% compared with 2001, and Ollila is forecasting handset
sales to increase around 9% year-on-year over the next 12 months, despite some
softness in the market in the first quarter.

The Nokia Mobile Phones division accounted for 76% of sales in the three months
to December 31, 2002, well ahead of its Nokia Networks business, which made up a
further 23.5% of revenue.

Nokia Networks sales grew 6% in the quarter, aided by the company's ongoing
restructuring, and Ollila said there are no plans for significant layoffs in the
unit, despite the continued slump in the wireless infrastructure market and its
low profitability relative to the handset division.

Source: Computerwire


URL: http://www.datamonitor.com
Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means,
is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall
not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions
taken in reliance thereon

Copyright (C) 2003 Datamonitor. All rights reserved

-0-


SUBJECT CODE: Nokia Corporation

(Wall Street)





Daniel Nieves