Espoo, Finland-based Nokia posted a net loss of $94 million, beating Wall Street expectations of a nearly $440 million loss. The company also increased its sales of basic mobile phones by eight percent.
The smaller loss is a hopeful sign for Nokia, the world's top handset maker by volume, which has been struggling for the past three years against smartphone rivals such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android-powered phones. The company also faced competition from newer companies producing cheaper handset models in some of its major markets, like Asia and India.
"In Q3 we started to see signs of early progress in many areas. We made some difficult decisions but we also celebrated some early moments of success," Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said. "As we head into the fourth quarter we are looking forward to generating more success as a result of delivering against our new strategy."
The multi-layered strategy involved lowering prices on basic Nokia phones to boost sales, as well as teaming up with Microsoft Windows for the company will unveil next week in London.
After the company announced the partnership with Windows in February, its smartphone sales dropped by more than a third overall, as consumers likely held off in anticipation of phones with the new Windows platform.
The partnership with Microsoft is a gamble for Nokia. So far, the market share for Windows phones is just estimated at two to three percent, a very small number when compared with the giant shares boasted by Apple and Google.
However, a recent study from the NPD group found that nearly half of smartphone users are considering a switch to Windows. That interest, plus a highly anticipated built-in voice-to-text feature on the new phones, may bode well for Nokia's upcoming launch.
