Shares of telecommunications equipment manufacturers plummeted Tuesday after Finnish giant Nokia released figures that pointed to a slowdown in global demand for mobile handsets, raising the possibility that the size of the market could be smaller than analysts had predicted.
Nokia estimated that 405 million handsets were sold worldwide last year, a 45 percent increase from 1999 but short of analysts’ expectations for sales of 420 million.
Likewise, the 128 million handsets that Nokia said it sold last year, while in line with the company’s published estimates, and 64 percent higher than in 1999, disappointed analysts, some of whom had expected the Finnish company to sell as many as 135 million handsets.
Nokia reported the figures weeks before its earnings announcement, scheduled for Jan. 30. Analysts said Nokia was trying to pre-empt what many expect to be discouraging comments from Schaumburg-based Motorola, which is to report earnings Wednesday.
Motorola warned in October and in December that fourth-quarter profits would fall below expectations, as did Ericsson.
Jittery investors slammed Nokia shares, sending the stock down 8.3 percent. Motorola shares lost nearly 5 percent, to $20.69, and shares of Ericsson lost 4.5 percent.
