Nokia shares hit as profit outlook cut

Nokia says it is delaying the release of new handsets

Shares in Nokia fell sharply after the world's largest maker of mobile phones cut its profit outlook and delayed new product launches.

The company saw its shares fall almost 15% as it also reported disappointing results for the first quarter of 2010.

Nokia has cut prices, and has now put back the launch of phones to compete with the iPhone and Blackberry.

First-quarter sales were 9.5bn euros ($12.6bn; £8.2bn), up 3% year-on-year but down 21% on the previous quarter.

Analysts fear Nokia is losing market share as it still lacks a model to compete in the high-end bracket with Apple's iPhone three years after its launch.

But Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's chief executive, said there would be no launches until products were right for the market.

"We will not ship the product before the quality is something that will meet the end-user needs and demands," he said.

The Finnish company, which makes one in three phones sold, also cut the outlook for its 2010 operating profit margin.

The average sales price of a Nokia smartphone fell 17% from the previous quarter to 155 euros. This compares with about 451 euros for the iPhone.

In Thursday afternoon trading, shares in Nokia were down more than 14% at 9.63 euros on the Helsinki stock exchange.