Nokia reports 23 percent dip in 2012 India revenues

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has for the second consecutive year reported decline in annual revenue from India business to Euro 2,227 million last year, on account of increasing competition and currency fluctuation.

Despite India being second biggest market for Nokia, after China, the company has posted 23 percent dip in revenue from Euro 2,923 million at the end of 2011.

"The year 2012 was one of transition for Nokia. While the first half of the year was challenging, our execution against a focused business strategy started to translate into financial results in the final three months of the year,"

Nokia spokesperson said in a e-mail query to PTI.

In 2010, the company's net sales in India were Euro 2,952 million.

The spokesperson said that India sales captured company's cumulative revenue across all businesses including devices, infrastructure (Nokia Siemens Networks) and Here (formerly Location and Commerce).

Nokia in a report mentioned the impact of currency fluctuation on its revenue.

"The majority of our non-euro based sales are denominated in the US dollar, but our strong presence in emerging markets like China, India, Brazil and Russia also gives rise to substantial foreign exchange exposure. The Indian rupee depreciated by 2.3 percent against the euro," the report said.

Among various risk factors to its revenue, the company admitted that there was a stiff competition in the country's mobile handset market.

"We are also seeing the emergence of various local mobile device manufacturers that are strong in a certain country or region, especially in emerging markets. Success of such competitors could adversely affect sales of our mobile devices in various countries such as China, Indonesia and India where we have been traditionally strong," the report said.

During 2012, the telecom infrastructure market saw slight growth in capital expenditures in Euro terms by global mobile operators, mainly attributable to operators in Japan, Asia Pacific and North America but it was off-set by declines in Europe, China and India, it added.

Nokia spokesperson said "Nokia is working at a new clock speed, and we look forward to delivering new and innovative solutions to consumers in India and globally in 2013."