In final results before combination with Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Networks sees solid growth in Greater China, EMEA regions
Finnish vendor Nokia recorded net sales of 3.6 billion euro ($4.05 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2015, up from 3.5 billion euro in the same quarter last year. For full 2015, the company’s revenues amounted to 12.5 billion euro, compared to 11.8 billion euro in the previous year.
In Q4, Nokia’s operating profit reached 734 million euro, up 46% year-over-year.
Nokia last year successfully merged with French network infrastructure provider Alcatel-Lucent, adding Alcatel’s wireline portfolio to its wireless products. After announcing merger plans in April, Jan. 14 marked the first day of combined operations.
The merger is valued at $16.5 billion cumulatively and the new company employs more than 100,000 people globally. It remains headquartered in Finland with strategic business and research and development locations in France, Germany, China and the U.S.
Nokia Networks recorded net sales of 3.21 billion euro in the period, down 5% compared to 3.36 billion in the same quarter the previous year. The unit’s operating profits totaled 468 million euro in Q4, almost flat compared to 470 million euro in Q4 2014.
“Both Mobile Networks and Global Services capped off the year with good fourth quarter results,” Nokia’s President and CEO Rajeev Suri said. The company said that Greater China and Middle East & Africa were the strongest regions in the quarter.
Nokia Technologies posted revenues of 403 million euro in the quarter, up compared to 109 million euro in Q4 2014.
“Nokia Technologies saw its net sales and operating profit grow considerably, based on strong licensing growth including a contribution from the arbitration award related to our licensing agreement with Samsung,” the executive said.
“While the competitive environment in Networks remained generally stable in the fourth quarter, we do expect some market headwinds in 2016 as 4G/LTE rollouts in China and some other markets start to slow. The first quarter, in particular, looks quite challenging as customers assess their CAPEX plans in light of increasing macro-economic uncertainty,” Suri added.
Nokia, EneCom to launch G.fast technology in Japan
In related news, Nokia and Energia Communications (EneCom) are to launch the first commercial deployment of G.fast technology in Japan, letting the ICT service provider use its existing copper networks to deliver up to 1 Gbps ultra-broadband access to residential subscribers.
The new G.fast deployment will allow EneCom to meet growing demand for next generation ultra-broadband access and deliver the high-capacity, high-quality Internet and video services customers need for ultra-high bandwidth TVs, streaming HD video to multiple Internet-connected devices.
The G.fast solution, developed by Nokia’s Bell Labs, uses built-in vectoring technology to effectively reduce cross-talk interference that typically impacts data speeds over copper networks, enabling EneCom to achieve speeds close to 1 Gbps.
EneCom plans to initially deploy the G.fast technology in the Chugokua region of Japan starting in June 2016.
