Nokia Siemens Networks has signed forward starting term and multicurrency revolving facilities agreements valued at €1.305 billion (US$1.725 billion) with 15 international banks, to replace the company’s existing revolving credit facility when it matures in June 2012.

The committed facilities are comprised in equal parts of a revolving credit facility maturing in June 2015 and a term loan facility that matures in June 2013. They will be used for general corporate purposes.

The facilities were signed on December 21, 2011.

Motorola recorded a loss of US$80 million in Q411, compared with a prior-year profit of US$80 million, on revenue which was flat at US$3.44 billion. The Mobile Devices business saw an operating loss of US$70 million, compared to a Q410 profit of US$72 million, on revenue of US$2.5 billion, up five per cent. The company stated its Q4 performance was impacted by the increased competitive environment.

Motorola shipped 10.5 million mobile devices during the period, including 5.3 million smartphones and 200,000 tablets. This compares with 11.3 million devices, with 4.9 million smartphones, in Q410.

For the full year, Motorola reported a net loss of US$249 million, compared with a prior-year loss of US$86 million, on revenue of US$13.1 billion, up 14 per cent.

North America remains Motorola’s largest market, accounting for 48 per cent of sales during the period. Other significant markets for Motorola in Q4 were Latin America (22 per cent) and Greater China (15 per cent).
In a statement, Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO of Motorola said that “we remain energised by the proposed merger with Google and continue to focus on creating innovative technologies.”

Samsung reported the expected strong performance for its mobile business, citing “strong sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note.”

The company said smartphones led the growth in mobile sales with developed markets, and the EU in particular, showing strong growth. Smartphone shipments were up 30 per cent quarter-on-quarter – although it stopped giving volume figures some time ago.

For the fourth quarter, Samsung’s mobile sales hit KRW17.2 trillion (US$15.3 billion), up 54 per cent year-on-year. Mobile sales reached KRW53.4 trillion for the twelve months, up 40 per cent on 2010.

For 2012, the company forecasts smartphone sales will grow a further 30 per cent, although feature phone growth will slow. The company also expects tablet sales to increase significantly year-on-year, with new mass-market models intensifying competition.

On a group level, Samsung saw a 17 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for Q411 to reach KRW4.0 trillion. Q411 revenue was KRW47.3 trillion, up 13 per cent year-on-year.

However, net profit for the full year 2011 fell 15 per cent to KRW13.7 trillion despite revenue of KRW165 trillion, up 6.7 per cent year-on-year.

Apple reclaimed its position as the number one smartphone vendor in Q411, displacing Samsung following the launch of the iPhone 4S, according to figures from Strategy Analytics.

Strategy Analytics noted that for the full year 2011, Samsung was the market leader, with a share of 20 per cent – displacing long-term number one Nokia.

Nokia’s smartphone market share halved to 16 per cent from 33 per cent in 2010, due to “a lacklustre touchscreen smartphone portfolio and a limited presence in the huge United States market.”

For the market as a whole, 155 million smartphones were shipped in Q4, compared with 100.7 million in the same period in 2010. For the full year, 488.5 million devices shipped, compared with 299.5 million.

In the handset market as a whole, Nokia retained its number one spot in the fourth quarter, with a market share of 25.5 per cent, down from 30.9 per cent year-on-year. Samsung was in number two position, with a market share of 21.3 per cent, up from 20.2 per cent.

In the fourth quarter, 445 million handsets shipped, up from 400.1 million in the comparable period in 2010. Full year shipments were 1.55 billion, compared with 1.36 billion.

Nokia has reported a net loss of €1.07 billion (US$1.4 billion) for the fourth-quarter of the year as revenues also fell by 21 per cent to €10 billion. The company dropped into a loss due to a €1.1 billion impairment charge at its location services division.

Smartphone sales fell by 23 per cent compared to a year ago, but by less than analysts had expected.

"Overall, we are pleased with the performance of our mobile phones business, which benefited in Q4 from sequential double-digit percentage growth in our dual SIM business, with particular strength in India, Middle East and Africa and South East Asia," commented Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO.

He did highlight that there has been an acceleration in the "anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian’s traditional strengths." He warned therefore that the company will sell fewer Symbian devices than originally expected.

In Q411, Nokia received the first quarterly platform support payment of US$250 million from Microsoft. It in turn will have made unspecified payments for the Windows Phone OS licences and support services.

On a year-on-year basis, the decline in total Devices & Services volumes in the fourth quarter was driven by significantly lower smart device volumes. Nokia shipped 113.5 million mobile devices in Q4, down eight per cent year-on-year, and up six per cent sequentially.

Nokia Siemens Networks saw an operating profit of €67 million, compared to €1 million in the prior-year, on sales of €3.8 billion, down from €4 billion.