The leadership change comes as turbulence prevails in European telecoms markets, with increasing pressure from some governments for operators to exclude or limit the use of 5G equipment from Huawei. Get the latest news from Nokia delivered straight to your inbox. He will be replaced by former Fortum is a Finnish utility company that operates and maintains nuclear, hydro-electric, and co-generation power plants, along with providing energy-related services across Northern Europe. Gradually building market share isn’t enough. The company’s phones have With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for Nokia to double down on its U.S. efforts where it does not face competition from the major Chinese smartphone vendors (yet).Nokia has played the underdog for the last two years, but it is time for the company to step up.
Perhaps a more critical point for Nokia’s investors is that the company has a healthy dividend yield of 6.1% and recently reiterated its dividend payout.Therefore, Lundmark could potentially make increasing Nokia’s dividends a significant goal. By Anne Kauranen and Supantha MukherjeeHELSINKI/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia reported an unexpected rise in second-quarter underlying profit on Friday as it took on less low-margin business particularly in China, sending its shares up 13% in early trade.Cutting less-profitable service business and not winning 5G radio deals in the cut-throat Chinese market helped Nokia, where new Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark takes over this weekend, upgrade its earnings outlook for 2020.“We do not mind trading poor revenue which doesn’t have high quality margin for better revenue,” outgoing chief executive Rajeev Suri told Reuters.Nokia said its underlying earnings in April through June rose to 0.06 euros per share from 0.05 euros a year ago, beating the 0.03 euros consensus in a Refinitiv poll.Nokia, which had warned of a weak second quarter due to the virus, raised its forecast for 2020 underlying earnings per share to between 0.20 and 0.30 euros, from 0.18-0.28 euros.Quarterly revenue fell 11% to 5.09 billion euros, below a consensus figure of 5.28 billion, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.Most of the drop was due to the effects on the economy of COVID-19, but Suri also cited a sharp decline in China based on a “prudent approach” in that market, and proactive steps to reduce low-margin services business, though he didn’t say what the latter consisted of.Nokia lowered its outlook for its market share in its main markets, measured by revenue, to underperform from its previous guidance of performing in line with rivals.Suri’s successor Lundmark still faces key decisions on finding a balance between improving profitability and defending Nokia’s market share, which currently makes it number two behind China’s Huawei [HWT.UL] but ahead of Sweden’s Ericsson when measured by revenue.“While the improvement in profitability from extremely low levels is clearly very encouraging, we are unsure on how much further Nokia can take such an improvement when sales are coming under significant pressure,” Liberum analyst Janardan Menon said.Ericsson had reported a rise in 5G network sales and software revenue two weeks ago.Suri steps down after more than a decade in charge of Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks. How times change. In subsequent years, it was 43.7%, then 41.1%, then 34.2%. Additionally, the Huawei debacle presents an excellent opportunity for Nokia to expand its market share overseas. Nokia’s CSF, the first in the telecom software market to be done at scale, makes the company’s products easier to deploy, integrate, service and upgrade; and easier for Nokia to deliver new innovation faster to customers. A true high-end flagship will also go a long way in making sure Nokia doesn’t get relegated to a value segment player — a reputation Xiaomi found very hard to get rid off in India.The North American market represents a beacon of opportunity for HMD Global in 2019.
Nokia announced a change in leadership and appointed Rajeev Suri, who was then its head of network equipment, as its CEO.India-born Suri had worked at Nokia for 20 years and had led Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) since October 2009, turning it profitable. Nasdaq Challenging market conditions in Europe with increasing competition means Nokia will need to work twice as hard to differentiate its own products. 2020 InvestorPlace Media, LLC. In terms of feature phones, Nokia was the world’s second brand with 16% of market share, while the No. Recently, Ericsson’s subsidiary, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, won an exclusive 5G contract in Croatia, providing it with a great entry point into the Eastern European market.Nokia’s new CEO is likely to put more emphasis on the company’s dividend and ensure that its stockholders are adequately rewarded.