Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark was optimistic the vendor is turning the corner across many parts of its business despite continued market weakness, as a decline in Mobile Networks contributed heavily to an overall 8 per cent drop in net sales.

In a Q3 2024 earnings statement, Lundmark said its optimism was fuelled by a return to sales growth in Network Infrastructure and Fixed Networks, with “robust” order intake in the latter.

Overall net sales hit €4.3 billion, down from €4.7 billion year-on-year. However net profit for the period was up 32 per cent to €175 million, as the company stated it remains disciplined on price while still winning deals and progressing on cost reduction efforts.

A familiar story in recent times has been the vendor’s struggles in Mobile Networks, and this period was no different. Net sales in the segment dipped 19 per cent to €1.7 billion,  mainly driven by lower demand in India.

The company is however seeing a recovery in the market after it secured a big contract from Vodafone Idea and shortly before the earnings release Reuters reported it is also in talks with Bharti Airtel over a multi-billion-dollar contract.

Challenging
Lundmark acknowledged the market dynamics are challenging but added it has secured “several important deals in the quarter” and it remains confident in its competitive position and improving its gross margin.

The CEO also pointed to “excellent momentum in Cloud and Network Services despite a 5 per cent dip in net sales, highlighting progress in network automation, cloudification and enabling network APIs.

“Across Nokia we are investing to create new growth opportunities outside of our traditional communications service provider market,” said Lundmark, while adding the company saw opportunities to bring 5G to the defence market and opportunities in the private wireless network segment.

Nokia’s 2024 outlook remains unchanged.