Nokia says third quarter of 2008 will be worse than expected

Nokia has revised its forecast for mobile sales this year. It says its market share in the third quarter of 2008 is expected to be lower than in the second quarter of 2008, although it had previously expected sales for the two quarters to be similar. It still aims to increase its market share for 2008. It says there are a number of reasons for the drop, including:

• Nokia's decision to not meet the aggressive pricing of some competitors,
• overall market competition,
• the temporary impact of a slower ramp-up of a mid-range Nokia device.

That last one's open to interpretation in a number of ways, isn't it? [Press release]

Carphone Warehouse announces plans for 2009

The Carphone Warehouse has released a trading statement that talks about its plans for the next year. It says it plans greater separation of its operating businesses, with its retail business continuing to offer more than just mobile phone connections. 120 new stores are planned, along with expansion of the company's partnership in the USA with Best Buy. [PDF document]

50% European mobile broadband penetration within five years

50% of Europeans will be using mobile broadband services by 2012. That's the surprising headline from a report by management consultants Arthur D. Little and investment company Exane BNP Paribas. They also forecast that 20% of this mobile broadband traffic could be carried through fixed networks as the result of partnerships between mobile and fixed-line companies to handle network capacity. [Arthur D Little press release]

2.3 trillion texts predicted for 2008

Researchers at Gartner reckon that 2.3 trillion messages will be sent worldwide in 2008, almost a 20% increase from this year's total of 1.9 trillion messages. Revenue from these messages will grow by 15.7% in 2008 to $60.2 billion (£30.4 billion). Western Europe is expected to send 215 billion of those messages - up from 202 billion in 2007.