Nokia’s First-Quarter Financials: A Missed Opportunity for 5G Investment Boosts Sales
Nokia, a wireless and fixed-network equipment manufacturer, recently released their first-quarter financial results which showed a smaller profit than anticipated and a significant decrease in sales due to a lack of investment in 5G technology by clients. In the January-March period, the company reported a net profit of 501 million euros, which was below analysts’ expectations. The revenue from sales fell by 20% to 4.7 billion euros.
The CEO of Nokia, Pekka Lundmark, attributed the decline in sales to the ongoing weakness in the telecom equipment market, where operators are hesitant to invest in 5G and other technologies due to economic uncertainty and high financing costs. Despite these challenges, Lundmark expressed confidence in a stronger performance in the second half of the year and reaffirmed the company’s full-year outlook.
Nokia faced a similar situation as their Nordic rival Ericsson who also reported a drop in sales in the first quarter. Lundmark highlighted that despite this setback, the Network Infrastructure unit, Nokia’s largest business segment by sales, is expected to return to growth for the full year 2024 driven by stronger performance in the second half.
On the other hand, Nokia’s mobile network unit experienced a decline in spending on 5G technology in North America and India which impacted its performance in
