Nokia Corporation reported a €68 million net loss for Q1 2025, a stark contrast to the €291 million profit in Q1 2024, as surging costs and sluggish demand for 5G equipment battered its bottom line.
The Helsinki-based firm, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s 5G rollout, saw its stock (NOK) slide to $4.865 on April 24, 2025, down 8.57% from the previous day’s close of $5.31, per real-time financial data. Reuters noted that Nokia’s mobile networks unit, critical for Nigeria’s Airtel and MTN 5G deployments, faced a 19% sales drop, exacerbated by reduced operator spending in North America and India.
CEO Pekka Lundmark, addressing investors, pinned the loss on “unusually high cost increases” in chipsets and logistics, totaling €450 million, while affirming Nokia’s cost-cutting measures, including 14,000 job cuts since 2023.
The company’s market cap stood at $27.36 billion, with shares trading near the year’s low of $3.57, far from its 2007 peak of $38.39. Nigeria, with 1% 5G adoption per Freedom House, remains a growth frontier, but Nokia faces fierce competition from Huawei, per Investors King. Lundmark projected a stronger H2 2025, banking on 6G trials and enterprise solutions.
Despite the downturn, Nokia’s €4.6 billion R&D budget underscores its pivot to AI and cloud networks, critical for Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan.