Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia has reported improved first quarter profit but said the Covid-19 pandemic dented sales by around 200 million euros (US$218 million) mainly due to supply issues associated with disruptions in China. The company based in Espoo, Finland, reported today net profit of 33 million euros for the January-March period, compared with a loss of 116 million euros the previous year. Sales were down 2 percent at 4.9 billion euros. Suri said Nokia expected the Covid-19 impact into its operations to be largest in the second quarter, noting that “our industry is fairly resilient to the crisis, although not immune.”“The Covid-19 crisis has made vividly clear the critical importance of connectivity to keep society functioning. We’re continuing to advance our 5G roadmap and product evolution, as planned, and our Covid-19 mitigation actions in R&D have been very successful.”Nokia said it has now recorded 70 commercial 5G deals with 21 live networks.-AP

Source: The Standard April 30, 2020 07:41 UTC