Beleaguered handset manufacturer
Nokia Corporation
(
NOK
) finally teams up with the largest U.S. telecom carrier
Verizon Communications Inc.
(
VZ
) - to sell new Windows Phone 8-based smartphones during the fourth
quarter of 2012.
On September 5, 2012, Nokia unwrapped its latest Lumia offering,
which runs on
Microsoft Corporation's
(
MSFT
) Windows Phone 8 software. The company's flagship Lumia 920 and
the smaller Lumia 820 with several new additional features is
believed to be the last gamble from Nokia to get back the customer
confidence in Windows-based smartphones.
For Verizon it will increase the number of smartphones offering
and add a third operating system in its scheme to the already
existing
Apple Inc's.
(
AAPL
) iOS and
Google Inc's
(
GOOG
) Android. However, Verizon which has HTC Trophy as the only
Windows phone hasn't announced any specific date or price for the
offering.
Earlier, on April 8, 2012, the Finnish handset manufacturer tied
up with
AT&T Inc.
(
T
) to sell Lumia 900 - the first LTE phone from Nokia. Furthermore,
T-Mobile USA became the first carrier in January 2012 to launch
Lumia series of smartphones in the U.S. The new partnership will be
seen as welcome news for Nokia Corp. as it will have three of the
top 4 U.S. carriers under its stable, offering Lumia
handsets.
This event is one of the very few positive news for Nokia among
several other things to worry about. We believe with Verizon's wide
LTE coverage in the U.S. and Lumia 920 supporting LTE, the
partnership could turn out to be a shot in the arm for Nokia to win
back the data hungry U.S. customers who are constantly looking for
higher speed and coverage. However, the company has to fight
competition with Samsung Electronics Co. which recently unveiled
its new Windows Phone 8-based smartphone.
The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for Nokia Corporation is
pegged at a loss of 12 cents for the third quarter of 2012 with a
growth rate estimate of (397.22%). For 2012, the Zacks Consensus
Estimate stands at a loss of 38 cents with a growth rate of
(200.46%) while for 2013, the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at a
loss of 1 cent with a growth rate of 96.47%.
Recommendation:
We retain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Nokia Corp.
Currently, it has a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a short-term Hold
rating.
APPLE INC (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOOGLE INC-CL A (GOOG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
MICROSOFT CORP (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis
Report
NOKIA CP-ADR A (NOK): Free Stock Analysis
Report
AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report
VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research