Gulp! Nokia Reports Losses of More Than $1 Billion

Handset giant Nokia has some big losses to report – $1.36 billion for the third quarter.

The biggest reason for the loss is the company’s shrinking lead in the smartphone market, where its share has dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent. Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerrys are eating into that pie.

Just last year, Nokia reported a profit of more than 1 billion dollars, so this is quite a turnaround. Clearly, the state of the global economy has taken its toll as well. Nokia’s CEO blamed ongoing problems related to his company’s joint venture with Siemens as another factor.

Nokia’s stock price was off more than 10 percent Thursday in afternoon trading.