Nokia shares plunge 10pc

HELSINKI, Sept 6 (AFP) Shares in Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile handsets, shed nearly 10 per cent of their value Friday after the Finnish group cut its forecast for its market share in the third quarter.brNokia now expects its mobile device market share in the third quarter 2008 to be lower than in the second quarter 2008, the company said in a statement that also pointed to pricing pressure and production problems.brReflecting slowing economic growth worldwide and recession fears in many economies, the group added Nokia expects the overall mobile device market in 2008 to be impacted by the weaker consumer confidence in multiple markets.brIn mid-July the mobile phone maker said its market share had risen to 40 per cent in the second quarter and forecast that it would remain more or less at the same level in the current three-month period.brNokia shares plummeted following the announcement and closed 9.60 per cent lower at 14.20 euros (US$20.25) on the Helsinki stock exchange.brNokia's chief financial officer Rick Simonson told a conference call Friday that the company's market share would be somewhat down but we are not talking about several points here.brAn analyst at Glitnir Bank, Mikael Schroeder, told the news agency that he expected the mobile phone giant to report third-quarter market share of about 38 per cent.brThe really bad surprise was that Nokia's market share in the current quarter will fall by more than a couple of decimals, as volumes are expected to fall, he said.brIncreasing market share requires a lot of work and it grows little by little, but now (Nokia) is losing two per centage points at once, he said.brLast week research institute Gartner predicted growth in global sales of handsets would fall sharply this year as consumers face higher food and fuel prices and overall high inflation.