In a posting on Nokia’s official Conversations blog, Mark Squires, head of social media communications for the Finnish company, has disputed Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ claim that Apple is, by revenue, now “the largest mobile devices company in the world.” The article refers to a story from Finnish paper Helsingin Sanomat, quoting Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo saying that Nokia is the world’s biggest mobile device manufacturer, when using a “generally accepted and stable definition of mobile devices,” which excludes laptops. Squires then references Sanomat’s revenue comparison between the two company’s October-December financial results, which stated that Nokia saw revenue of €8.18 billion from its devices and services business during the period, while Apple—even using its own definition of mobile devices—saw revenue of only €7.25 billion.
An analysis of Apple’s reported earnings (PDF Link) does not bear this out, however, as Apple’s revenue from iPod, iPhone, and laptop sales was $11.73 billion, or €8.45 billion, during the December quarter. Removing revenue from laptop sales does leave Apple behind Nokia, resulting in revenues of $8.97 billion, or €6.46 billion, during the period; it is unclear how Helsingin Sanomat arrived at the €7.25 billion number, but it appears to be incorrect.
Squires goes on to point out that Nokia remains far ahead of Apple in terms of total devices sold. Nokia and Apple have recently been engaged in an ongoing legal battle, each company accusing the other of patent infringement, with the U.S.
