Nokia has posted an operating loss of €576m (£468m) for Q3, 2012. Net sales were €7.2bn, down from €7.5bn in Q2.
Total smartphone sales were down 22 per cent quarter-on-quarter, dropping from 10.2m in the previous quarter to 6.3m. Sales of the Lumia line of WP7 handsets fell to 2.9m units, down from 4m in Q2. This decrease, according to Nokia, is down to the looming Windows Phone 8 launch, now just a couple of weeks away.
“In Q3, we continued to manage through a tough transitional quarter for our smart devices business as we shared the exciting innovation ahead with our new line of Lumia products,” said Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop. “While we continue to focus on transitioning Nokia, we are determined to carefully manage our financial resources, improve our competitiveness, return our Devices & Services business to positive operating cash flow as quickly as possible, and ultimately provide more value to our shareholders.”
Looking forward to Q4, Nokia says it is expecting “a challenging quarter” for its smartphone business, despite coming after the launch of WP8 and including the Christmas shopping period. Nokia is expecting “a lower-than-normal benefit from seasonality in volumes, primarily due to product transitions and our ramp-up plan for our new devices”. 
Peter Boyland, an analyst for IHS Global Insight, doesnt see Nokias future getting much brighter any time soon.
“The next few months will be vital for Nokia, as it is a year since the initial launch of its first Lumia handset, the first to be based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, instead of Nokia’s own OS, Symbian,” says Boyland. “The decision made by new CEO Stephen Elop in February last year to move its smartphone development to the Windows OS has been seen as something of a gamble, since it is the first major range of smartphones to be based on the platform.
“While Nokia has has included high-quality cameras and an improved mapping system in its new Lumia handsets, the 820 and 920, this is unlikely to make up for fewer apps that are available on the Windows OS, and the simple fact that Nokia is no longer seen as a leading brand. With sales of its flagship Lumia models falling, investors are rapidly losing faith that Nokia can make good on its late entry to the smartphone sector.”
