Nokia Struggling in Move to Windows Phone

Nokia's switch from smartphones based on Symbian to Microsoft's Windows Mobile is clearly not going as smoothly as it likely hoped. Sales in the first three months of this year were 40% lower than what they were a year ago.

The company released its Q1 financial results this morning, revealing that it sold 4.3 million smartphones, down from 7.1 million in the same quarter a year ago. Of these, 2 million ran Windows Phone, while the rest were Symbian based.

This steep decline in sales naturally led to lower revenue: $9.7 billion (€7.4 billion) verses $13.6 billion (€10.4 billion) year over year. This resulted in a net loss of $1.7 billion (€1.3 billion).

Nokia had a loss of a different kind, too: Colin Giles, executive VP of sales, is leaving to "be closer to his family". He won't be replaced, as his position is being eliminated.

"Over the last year we have made progress on our new strategy, but we have faced greater than expected competitive challenges." said Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO. "We have launched four Lumia devices ahead of schedule to encouraging awards and popular acclaim. The actual sales results have been mixed. We exceeded expectations in markets including the United States, but establishing momentum in certain markets including the UK has been more challenging."