Nokia hoping demand for 5G networking equipment will boost its revenue sheet following a fall in sales during the most recent quarter.
The Finnish company was once the undisputed leader in mobile phones but following the sale of its devices business to Microsoft in 2013 has transformed into a major player in the telecommunications network equipment market.
Revenues for the second quarter of 2018 fell by six per cent to €5.3 billion, although currency movements did affect the figure.
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Nokia 5G
CEO Rajeev Suri said the numbers were not a surprise and that he was pleased with efforts at diversification, with the firm moving into the large enterprise market and continuing the expansion of its end-to-end services.
There was also cause for optimism at Nokia Technologies while Nokia also hopes for growth in its licensing business.
“Nokia's Q2 2018 results were consistent with our view that the first half of the year would be weak followed by an increasingly robust second half,” he said.
“Our view about the acceleration of 5G has not changed and we continue to believe that Nokia is well-positioned for the coming technology cycle given the strength of our end-to-end portfolio. Our deal win rate is very good, with significant recent successes in the key early 5G markets of the United States and China.”
The first 5G networks are expected to go live later this year in North America, with the rest of the world following suit in 2019 and 2020. Among other things, 5G is expected to offer ultrafast speeds, low latency and high capacity, as well as a change in network architecture that will enable new use cases.
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