Mobile phone giant Nokia Corp on Thursday posted a loss of 368 million ($523 million) in the second quarter and for the first time was overtaken by Apple's iPhone in smartphone shipments.
Nokia, which posted a profit of 227 million in the same period in 2010, said revenue fell 7% to 9.3 billion from 10 billion last year.
It shipped 88.5 million mobile devices in April through June, down from 111 million a year ago and 108.5 million in the previous quarter.
Its smartphone volumes fell to 16.7 million units, which means Nokia is no longer No. 1 in the smartphone sector. Apple Inc. sold more than 20 million iPhones in the same quarter, lifting its net income to a stronger-than-expected $7.31 billion.
Nokia said it was accelerating its cost-cutting plan to exceed the previously targeted savings of 1 billion in 2013. The reductions would be achieved through cuts in staff and outsourced professionals, facility costs "and various improvements in efficiencies", the company said.
While that could improve the company's finances, Nokia needs to take quick action to develop new products or it will continue to lose ground to its rivals, said Neil Mawston of London-based Strategy Analytics. He expects Samsung to also surpass Nokia in smartphones when it releases its second-quarter earnings next week.
Nokia's global market share dropped below 30% earlier this year for the first time in over a decade.