Nokia: In Trouble On Smartphones?

Is Nokia (NOK) heading for new trouble in the smartphone sector? GC Research analyst Tero Kuittinen thinks so. This morning, he cut his rating on the mobile phone giant to Neutral from Overweight, chopping his price target to 12 Euros from 18 Euros. (The stock closed Friday at 10.84 Euros.) He also trimmed his 2009 EPS estimate to 50 Euro cents from 66 cents, and now sits well below the consensus at 63 Euro cents. Kuittinen has several concerns about the state of the company’s smartphone portfolio: He asserts that the company may miss the planned June launch date for the N97 in several major markets, including France and Spain. He notes that Vodafone (VOD) has slotted a July launch for the phone in the U.K. He now thinks the N97 could ship just 300,000 units in Q2, rather than the 1 million he had previously expected. Kuittinen also writes that he is “disturbed” by buzz about an upcoming 8 mega-pixel camera model with a 3-inch display that lacks touch screen ... (link)