Nokia's Q4 'beat expectations' despite ongoing sales slump

So 4 million odd Lumia devices in a quarter?

I guess they can say they "beat expectations" if the expectations are low enough, but that's absolutely awful for something that was supposedly going to put up some sort of a fight against iOS, let alone Android. Apple sold more iPhone 5s in a weekend than Nokia sold Lumias in the entire holiday quarter, despite the Windows 8 hype machine cranked up to 11?

I think we know where to file all those nutty predictions showing WP getting 10% of the smartphone market in a year or two...

"We focused on our priorities and as a result we sold a total of 14 million Asha smartphones and Lumia smartphones while managing our costs efficiently,"

So thats 4 million Lumia and 10 million Asha.....

It's going to get worse

With no economic recovery actually occurring in most parts of the world, things are likely to continue their downward trajectory for the foreseeable future, in most industries.

back down soon

Don't worry, they will fall back down, once investors realize it's not real sales, as in sales to end users, but sales on a sale or return basis to networks and stores.

When was the last time you saw anyone with a Windows Phone? Yep, that's the REALITY on the ground.....

Symbian sales

" Nokia sold just 2.2 million Symbian phones in the quarter "

with no new products, no advertising, no network deals and practically no availability. Not bad going in my opinion when you compare it to their Windows Phone efforts.

Peaceful death?

As Tim Worstall put it today, some companies should stick to the business they have and just peacefully die as the world moves on. After the violent thrashing desperate jumping off platforms, the numbers indicate that Nokia might do just what Tim prescribed.

OTOH, the 'better than expected' numbers might be some dressing up for interested suitors. Maybe MS wants to make a big jump into hardware soon? It'll happen when you stop expecting it.

re: stick to the business they have

If they had have done they, they might still have some credibility left. When they pulled the plugs, Symbian was on the way up. The N8 was a very popular phone. It has its flaws, but they surely wold have been fixed far more simply than throwing away your most of your market and starting chasing a different one.

WP is more akin to iOS, due to its lockdown. Symbian is more akin to Android.

There are 3 type of buyer. Nokia fans. They will keep them. Symbian fans, they will go to Android. And general users. If they lose their apps, are they going to stay with the company that caused it? (Especially since the new OS comes from a firm with a proven history of abandoning phone OSes, and i heard a runour the WP9 is on the cards soon.)

The N8 was a really good hone. I can't really see any phone other than the 808 being anything but a step down in many ways.

the linux based nokia phones were a real contender. I know someone who purchsed one of the first and last, before it was was pushed out of the lime light and killed by elop in his plans to go winphone. "oh no, hes got no aligence to microsoft, he is just a major shareholder^, and wants to trash all the quality IP nokia have developed in the last 5 years that is about to come to fruition, and kiss balmers ass while making the worst business decision for nokia, and finland".

My mate who bought an N700 i think it was - He really liked it. Nokia labs had done an excellent job making a lightweight linux OS for phone and QT themes that worked well on a small screen. As a phone it could stand on its own merits, and for a geek it was fantastic. He told me he was able to compile wireshark from source on the phone, and it 'just worked' and was useable with no code modification. Fantastic!

Whatever app you choose, being able to do that wins over the geeks (like android did with its openness in the early days) and the geeks are who less technical people ask for advice before they go to the phone shop. Most geeks now say "android, perhaps iphone if you like it... but what ever you do DONT get a windows phone - there is no software and nothing runs on it".

^ of course when it was reported he was a major shareholder, he sold all his shares. Im sure hes spewing about the money that netted him (enough to live rich for the rest of his life, and then some) before he kills nokia and with microsoft shooting them selves in the foot weekly by trying to push users where they dont want to go....