Nokia Q4 Sales Beat Expectations, Smartphone Numbers Show Healthy Increases

Nokia’s Devices & Sales divisions were able to “exceed expectations” in Q4 2012, according to the company’s preliminary fourth-quarter results report.

According to the report, those divisions of Nokia “achieved underlying profitability” with the Mobile Phones business unit picking up steam thanks in large part to the growing success of its Nokia Lumio Smartphone line and strong sales for its Asha devices.

The Devices & Services division managed to bring in 3.9 billion euros ($5.1 billion), while the company’s Smart Devices sector earned 1.2 billion euros ($1.57 billion).

All together, the Nokia line sold 86.3 million units, of which 9.3 million were from its Asha devices and 4.4 million units were delivered via the Lumia line. Adding an additional 2.2 million phones was the company’s aging Symbian smartphones.

The sales increase is a decent improvement over Q3 sales in which 77 million units were sold, of which 2.9 million were delivered from the company’s Lumia line.

A full financial report will be released on January 24 and will likely show Nokia still failing to turn a profit. Q3 results delivered an operating loss of $755 million, an improvement over Q2 in which the company loss $755 million.

Nokia is currently engaged in an active restructuring plan that includes firing thousands of employees, shutting down underutilized factories, and even selling its own corporate headquarters with the option to lease back the facility from its new buyer.