S&P may downgrade Nokia's rating due to poor phone sales
updated 04:15 pm EDT, Tue June 22, 2010
Standard and Poor says Nokia must improve
Standard & Poor on Tuesday dropped its outlook on Nokia's credit rating from "stable" to "negative" due to its expected poor results. The stock indexer warned that Nokia's core phone business needed to regain more of its profitability over the next six months or else its credit rating could be downgraded within the next 12 to 18 months. It wasn't optimistic as it saw that Nokia was still in a "rather weak competitive position" for smartphones.
The alert reflects mounting concerns from analysts that Nokia is increasingly running out of time to offer a strong competitor to relative newcomers like Android and the iPhone. While RIM's BlackBerry growth has been leveling off, Nokia's share has either been flat or has declined in the past few years, particularly since the iPhone's launch in 2007 and later the economic slump in 2008.
Its best chance at improving its performance isn't due to arrive until later in the summer, when the N8 ships. The phone will be the first Symbian^3 device and Nokia's first multi-touch phone, arriving three years after Apple's.
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S&P Rates Nokia Strong Buy
Did anyone here on the Macintosh News Network notice that not only did S&P credit analyst Matthias Raab (on June 22) maintain Nokia';s A long-term rating and A-1 short-term rating, but at weeks end S&P reiterated their Strong Buy 5 Star) rating on NOK ADSs originally set on May 26 when they upgraded NOK from Buy (4 Star)? That rating was based on Their current 12 month price target is $12. The complete current 8 page Standard & Poor's Nokia Corp Stock Report which is available from numerous brokers is dated June 26, 2010. - IC (Eric L.) -