Nokia on Thursday said that it achieved underlying profitability in the fourth quarter on strong sales of Lumia smartphones.  This indicates that the Finnish handset giant is successfully striving to regain its foothold in cellphone market.

Commenting on the preliminary Q4 financial information, Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, said, "We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services and record underlying profitability in Nokia Siemens Networks. We focused on our priorities and as a result we sold a total of 14 million Asha smartphones and Lumia smartphones while managing our costs efficiently, and Nokia Siemens Networks delivered yet another very good quarter."

Announcing the preliminary financial information for the fourth quarter 2012 Nokia said that it estimated  that Devices & Services net sales in the fourth quarter 2012 were approximately EUR 3.9 billion, with total device volumes of 86.3 million units.

It said that mobile phones net sales were of approximately EUR 2.5 billion, with total volumes of 79.6 million units of which 9.3 million units were Asha full touch smartphones.

Smart Devices net sales were of approximately EUR 1.2 billion, with total volumes of 6.6 million units of which 4.4 million units were Nokia Lumia smartphones.

It said that total smartphone volumes of 15.9 million units composed of 9.3 million Asha full touch smartphones, 4.4 million Lumia smartphones and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.

Devices & Services Other net sales were of approximately EUR 0.2 billion, including a positive impact from non-recurring IPR income of approximately EUR 50 million.

Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks expect Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating margin in the first quarter 2013 to be approximately positive 3 percent, plus or minus four percentage points.  This outlook is based on Nokia Siemens Networks' expectations regarding a number of factors, including  competitive industry dynamics,  the first quarter being a seasonally weak quarter, product and regional mix;  expected continued improvement under Nokia Siemens Networks' restructuring program; and  the macroeconomic environment.