As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 21, 2019

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

Commission file number 1‑13202

Nokia Corporation

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Republic of Finland
(Jurisdiction of incorporation)

Karaportti 3 FI‑02610 Espoo, Finland
(Address of principal executive offices)

Esa Niinimäki, Vice President, Corporate Legal, Telephone: +358 (0) 10 44 88 000, Facsimile: +358 (0) 10 44 81 002,
Karaportti 3, FI‑02610 Espoo, Finland
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”):

 

 

(1)   Not for trading, but only in connection with the registration of American Depositary Shares representing these shares, pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act: None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the registrant’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report. Shares: 5 635 945 159.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting
company” or “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b‑2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

U.S. GAAP ☐

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ☒

Other ☐

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Certain statements contained in this Annual Report constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide Nokia's current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any current or historical fact. The words “believe”, “expect”, “expectations”, “anticipate”, “foresee”, “see”, “target”, “estimate”, “designed”, “aim”, “plan”, “intend”, “influence”, “assumption”, “focus”, “continue”, “project”, “should", "is to", "will”, "strive", "may" or similar expressions as they relate to us or our management are intended to identify these forward-looking statements, as well as statements regarding:

A)business strategies including the four pillars of Lead, Expand, Build and Create, market expansion, growth management, and future industry trends and megatrends and our plans to address them, including Future X;

B)future performance of our businesses and any expected future distributions and dividends;

C)expectations and targets regarding financial performance, results, operating expenses, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, cost savings and competitiveness, as well as results of operations including targeted synergies and those related to market share, prices, net sales, income and margins;

D)expectations, plans, timelines or benefits related to changes in our organizational and operational structure;

E)market developments in our current and future markets and their seasonality and cyclicality, including for communication service providers, as well as general economic conditions and future regulatory developments;

F)our position in the market, including product portfolio and geographical reach, and our ability to use the same to develop the relevant business or market and maintain our order pipeline over time;  

G)any future collaboration or business collaboration agreements or patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income from any collaboration or partnership, agreement or award;

H)timing of the development and delivery of our products and services, including our short term and longer term expectations around the deployment of 5G and our ability to capitalize on such deployment as well as use our global installed base as the platform for success in 5G, and the overall readiness of the 5G ecosystem;

I)the outcome of pending and threatened litigation, arbitration, disputes, regulatory proceedings or investigations by authorities;

J)restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, divestments and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, and capital structure optimization efforts including our 2019-2020 cost savings program;

K)future capital expenditures, temporary incremental expenditures or other R&D expenditures to develop or rollout new products, including 5G; and

L)the sustainability and corporate responsibility contained in the sustainability and corporate responsibility section of this annual report on Form 20-F.

These statements are based on management’s best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Risks and uncertainties that could affect these statements include by are not limited to the risk factors specified under “Operating and financial review and prospectsRisk factors” of this annual report on Form-20 F and in our other filings or documents furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proven to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

 

 

 

Nokia Corporation is a public limited liability company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Finland. In this annual report on Form 20‑F, any reference to “we,” “us,” “the Group,” “the company” or “Nokia” means Nokia Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries and generally to Nokia’s Continuing operations, except where we separately specify that the term means Nokia Corporation or a particular subsidiary or business segment only or our Discontinued operations. References to “our shares” matters relating to our shares or matters of corporate governance refer to the shares and corporate governance of Nokia Corporation.

Nokia Corporation has published its consolidated financial statements in euro for periods beginning on or after January 1, 1999. In this annual report on Form 20‑F, references to “EUR,” “euro” or “€” are to the common currency of the European Economic and Monetary Union, references to “dollars”, “U.S. dollars”, “USD” or “$” are to the currency of the United States, and references to “Chinese yuan” or “Chinese yuan renminbi” or “CNY” are to the official currency of the People’s Republic of China. Solely for the convenience of the reader, this annual report on Form 20-F contains conversions of selected euro amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates or, if not so specified, at the year-end rate of 1.1450 U.S. dollars per euro, and conversions of selected euro amounts into Chinese yuan renminbi at specified rates or, if not specified, at the year-end rate 7.8751 Chinese yuan renminbi per euro. The referred year-end rates where the European Central Bank reference rates on December 31, 2018. No representation is made that the amounts have been, could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or Chinese yuan at the rates indicated or at any other rates.

Additional terms are defined in the "Glossary of terms".

The information contained in, or accessible through, the websites linked throughout this annual report on Form 20‑F is not incorporated by reference into this document and should not be considered a part of this document.

Nokia Corporation furnishes Citibank, N.A., as Depositary, with its consolidated financial statements and a related audit opinion of our independent auditors annually. These financial statements are prepared on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and in conformity with IFRS as adopted by the European Union (IFRS). In accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC, we do not provide a reconciliation of net income and shareholders’ equity in our consolidated financial statements to the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP. We also furnish the Depositary with quarterly reports containing unaudited financial information prepared on the basis of IFRS, as well as all notices of shareholders’ meetings and other reports and communications that are made available generally to our shareholders. The Depositary makes these notices, reports and communications available for inspection by record holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), evidencing American Depositary Shares (ADSs), and distributes to all record holders of ADRs notices of shareholders’ meetings received by the Depositary.

In addition to the materials delivered to holders of ADRs by the Depositary, holders can access our consolidated financial statements, and other information included in our annual reports and proxy materials, at nokia.com/financials. This annual report on Form 20‑F is also available at nokia.com/financials as well as on Citibank’s website at https://app.irdirect.net/company/49733/hotline/. Holders may also request a hard copy of this annual report by calling the toll-free number 1‑877‑NOKIA-ADR (1‑877‑665‑4223), or by directing a written request to Citibank, N.A., Shareholder Services, PO Box 43077, Providence, RI 02940‑3081, United States. With each annual distribution of our proxy materials, we offer our record holders of ADRs the option of receiving all of these documents electronically in the future.

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are at the dawn of a new era. Digital technologies – cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and 5G networks – are changing our world. Nokia is driving innovation and the future of technology to power this digital age and transform how people live, work and communicate.

We push the boundaries of what is possible to create new ways of connecting people, things and services instantly and effortlessly. We build upon a foundation of integrity, quality and security. We help our customers navigate complex choices, drive productivity gains in physical and digital industries alike, and unlock new opportunities that provide extraordinary experiences in people’s lives each day.

Financial Highlights

 

 

“2018 saw the commercial deployment of 5G move forward in lead countries, and Nokia was at the forefront of this activity. In 2019 we expect to see more organizations around the world take their first steps in creating the infrastructure for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – and Nokia is ready to be their trusted partner.”

 

Financial Highlights

Although our performance in 2018 was below our expectations overall, we exited 2018 with a strong finish, confirming our expectation of accelerated sales momentum as the year progressed. Indeed, we had a strong second half with every one of our Networks Business Groups delivering year-on-year growth, excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. This drove growth in Nokia’s net sales for the year of 1%, excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Our Networks business delivered approximately 2% growth in 2018, excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, fueled by the continued success of our end-to-end strategy and the conversion of a healthy pipeline into net sales. This allowed us to take share in certain segments of the market, while the overall market itself declined slightly. High customer engagement in multiple elements of our 5G portfolio sees us enter 2019 with a strong Networks order backlog. In Nokia Technologies, we maintained our strong growth track record with 11% year-on-year growth in recurring licensing revenue.

Reflecting this momentum in the year, the Board of Directors will propose a maximum dividend of EUR 0.20 per share for 2018: a 5% increase compared to 2017.

Progress in our strategy

In our first pillar – leading in high-performance, end-to-end networks with Communications Service Providers – we have proven our capabilities as the commercialization of 5G begins. We proudly serve as a partner to most of 5G’s ‘first-movers’ with over 25 5G commercial deals and nearly 100 trials and pilots of the new technologies.

In our second pillar – expanding network sales to select vertical markets – we support a wide and growing range of organizations as they evaluate how best to digitalize their operations. Enterprises are increasingly looking at dedicated networks to enable them to have full control over networking solutions that have the characteristics they need for their business. Today we serve approximately 1 000 customers outside of our traditional Communications Service Provider base, bringing connectivity to some of the most complex, fast-moving industries on earth, including a number of new automotive, energy and transportation customers that placed their trust in our technologies in 2018.

In our third pillar – building a strong standalone software business at scale – we see clear signs of our strategy bearing fruit. Nokia Software is now a truly verticalized business, driven by a renewed sales organization, underpinned by simpler processes and boasting a modern, cloud-native common software foundation. The attractiveness of this proposition is borne out through strong 2018 sales momentum including wins with AT&T, BT, STC, Sky, Telenor One Europe and Verizon and the industry analyst research firm, Analysys Mason, ranked us the leading telecoms software company by revenue.

In our fourth pillar – creating new licensing opportunities – our successes in 2018 with existing and new licensee customers have validated our direction for Nokia Technologies. This year we have extended our patent licensing agreement with Samsung; signed a new multi-year patent license agreement with Chinese smartphone maker OPPO; and benefited from continued progress made by our brand licensee, HMD Global, which unveiled a range of new products throughout 2018 with production capacity to deliver on demand. We see further potential in licensing to smartphone makers and in other markets which are using our patented inventions, such as automotive, consumer electronics and IoT devices such as smart meters.

Accelerating our strategy

Given the considerable momentum of our strategy, and with the successful Alcatel Lucent integration and associated cost-saving program completed, we took steps during 2018 to accelerate the execution of our strategy and position our business for 5G leadership. Alongside a new program targeting EUR 700m in annual cost savings(1) by the end of 2020, these steps have led to a number of organizational changes that further strengthen our ability to deliver on our 2019 and 2020 guidance.

First, we have created a new Business Group, Nokia Enterprise, that consolidates a range of existing, fast-growing activities into one organization. Led by Kathrin Buvac, Nokia Enterprise will enhance our ability to capture higher-growth, higher-margin opportunities as companies progress with their digital transformations.

Second, we have tailored Mobile Networks’ operational focus on mobile radio products, led by Tommi Uitto, and consolidated all our Cloud Core activities and accountability into Nokia Software, under the leadership of Bhaskar Gorti.

We have also realigned Nokia’s customer-facing organization into two regional groups, to make sure our customer focus is as strong as possible. The first group covers the Americas, led by Ricky Corker. The second is responsible for Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia-Pacific, led by

Federico Guillén who previously led Fixed Networks. The new President of Fixed Networks, Sandra Motley, is charged with continuing the operational discipline of the Business Group while capturing new market opportunities for its portfolio.

These changes have strengthened our organization, sharpened our focus, and added strong capabilities to Nokia’s Group Leadership Team.

The 5G investment cycle

From the first trials to the first roll-outs, 2018 was the year in which 5G became a commercial reality. It is my firm belief that we now stand at the start of a meaningful, long-term technology trend that bodes uniquely well for Nokia.

5G will power networks that connect sensors, machines, platforms, systems and people in one seamless, automated ‘whole’. This fundamental shift in network design will require several different stages of investment, each of which leads naturally to the next. Nokia’s unique, end-to-end portfolio includes products and services for each stage of this process, leading to a virtuous cycle of investment that only Nokia can truly take advantage of.

The cycle has already begun with 5G radio access network (RAN) upgrades in ‘first-mover’ markets such as the US, Korea, China and Japan, which our Airscale portfolio enables. As well as radio, these networks also need high-capacity connectivity to data centers, requiring backhaul network expansion. Demand in the U.S. for our IP and Optical Anyhaul offer shows this trend already taking shape.

With networks built, operators will then need fixed-wireless access to expand “last-mile” connectivity. With the most complete fixed-wireless access product set of any provider, we are well-placed to tap this opportunity.

In due course, ‘fast-follower’ countries will commence their 5G roll-outs. Yet, by this point, ‘first-mover’ countries will already have entered the second stage of 5G evolution. Here, the focus will shift to network virtualization and edge cloud and smart network fabrics will be required to connect these edge clouds, all playing to Nokia’s strength in cloud deployment and packet core.

Network slicing will follow, triggering a need for enhanced software that can control networks with high degrees of automation: our standalone software business and early moves in AI will allow us to capitalize.  

Simultaneously, many enterprises will choose to build their own private networks, meeting bespoke performance, reliability and security requirements. These networks will leverage the same end-to-end technologies as CSPs, but on a smaller scale. These will need to be plugged into national or global networks, creating a seamless ‘whole’, driving even greater network traffic and shifting the cycle back to the beginning.

No other global company touches every link in this cycle. No matter how early or late stage the investment, be it a ‘first-mover’ or ‘fast-follower’ geography, a Communications Service Provider innovator or a digitally-minded enterprise, Nokia’s end-to-end portfolio means that we can meet every 5G investment requirement that lies ahead.

Force for good

Digital technology increases productivity, reduces waste and connects the world, so it was pleasing that the radio networks we delivered to our customers served around 6.1 billion subscriptions worldwide this year, up about 10% from 2016. As the 5G era begins we will see even greater societal and industrial benefits.

Climate challenges remain critically important. We have worked hard to minimize the energy use of our products. Achievements included the first commercial liquid-cooled base station in the world, recognition as a leader by the CDP Climate rating, and achieving average energy savings of 43% for customers whose networks we modernized during 2018. These and many more examples of our sustainable development work can be found in our People & Planet Report, to be published in May 2019.

Looking ahead

Nokia exits 2018 with strength, energy and purpose. The year has not been without challenges, but nevertheless, we have remained focused on our commitments to our customers, people and shareholders. Our strategy is focused on the true areas of opportunity; our global team is committed, dynamic and capable of innovating and winning at the highest level; and our end-to-end portfolio has put us in a great position to grasp the transformative 5G opportunity ahead.

 

Rajeev Suri

President and CEO

 

(1)   Excluding costs related to the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent and related integration, goodwill impairment charges, intangible asset amortization and other purchase price fair value adjustments, restructuring and associated charges and certain other items.

 

 

 

 

 

We are rebalancing for growth, putting Nokia at the heart of unprecedented opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution to create the technology to connect the world.

 

In 2016 we identified six global megatrends that we believe continue to impact our current and potential customers, change the lives of people and impact business operations on a global scale. The Nokia Bell Labs Future X vision is directly aligned to these megatrends, providing opportunities for us to diversify into new growth areas.

The megatrends we have identified are:

Nokia Bell Labs has developed Future X, our vision of a future network architecture that addresses these megatrends in a holistic way. This is our guide to building networks that meet the future needs of our customers and address the inherent opportunities in the megatrends. The Future X vision encompasses the key domains of future networks: emerging devices and sensors, massive-scale access, converged edge cloud, smart network fabric, universal adaptive core, programmable network operating systems, augmented cognition systems, digital value platforms and dynamic data security.

Simultaneously, driven by the megatrends and the resulting increasing relevance of networks to digitize business operations, we see a shift in who is investing in technology.

Our primary market with communication service providers (CSPs), in which we have a leadership position, is very large in size, but expected to provide a limited estimated growth opportunity, mainly driven by 5G.

However, the megatrends are increasing the demand for large high-performance networks in other key industries. Webscale companies – such as Google, Microsoft and Alibaba – are investing in cloud technology and network infrastructure at an increasing scale. As other vertical markets such as transportation, energy and the public sector (TEPS) digitize their operations, they need high-performing mission-critical networks as well. The same is true for TXLEs – technically sophisticated large enterprises, such as banks, that invest heavily in their own network infrastructures to gain a key competitive advantage. Our “Future X for industries” network architecture combines the technologies that drive dramatic productivity improvements across a wide range of industry sectors. As technologies such as edge cloud supporting augmented intelligence and advanced security analytics as well as end-to-end 5G-capable networks become a reality, they will radically speed up the digital transformation of industries such as manufacturing, logistics, transportation and energy, as well as governments and cities. Nokia’s holistic approach is helping to drive a new era of productivity and human–machine interaction that is expected to unlock trillions of dollars of economic value in the next decade.

We are addressing both our primary CSP market and the newly identified growth opportunities in the Industrial IoT with our “Rebalancing for Growth” strategy. The strategy builds on our core strength of delivering large high-performance networks by expanding our business into targeted, higher-growth and higher-margin vertical markets. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our four pillars

Our strategy builds on our business portfolio and continued drive to create technology that serves people and businesses and includes the following four key priorities.

1.Lead

Lead in high-performance, end-to-end networks with CSPs

Our position

Nokia is a leader in this area today and we will use our main competitive advantage – a near-100% end-to-end portfolio that we can deliver on a global scale – to maintain our leadership while managing for profitability.

Our focus areas

Progress

2.Expand

Expand network sales to select vertical markets

Our position

We continue to expand into select vertical markets that have high-performance, carrier-grade networking needs: Web and cloud companies; transportation, energy, public sector (TEPS); and TXLE (large enterprises for which technology is a strategic advantage). As the world becomes more digital and more automated, the kind of high-performance, low-latency networks once used almost exclusively in telecommunications are now needed by other organizations. This is especially true in organizations that own high-value, movable assets that are mission-critical. To address this growing need for high-performance networks, Nokia formed the Nokia Enterprise business group. With Nokia Enterprise, we have implemented a combined sales organization, a targeted portfolio and new solutions that address our customers’ digitization and automation needs.

Our focus areas

Progress

 

3.Build

Build a strong software business

Our position

With our existing software products, we are today a leader in the large and growing telecoms software market. Our ambition is to build on this foundation and strengthen our position by building software for Digital Time. This means intelligently connecting humans, machines and data to boost productivity and thus create time for what matters the most. We help our customers to connect data across their business, network and operations and help them create insights for maximizing their investments – in time, relationships, revenue and productivity. By doing so, we aim to create a global software player that has a growth and margin profile like leading software companies. The basis for all our activities is diligent cost management, lean operations and a focus on developing and engaging our people.

Our focus areas

Progress

4.Create

Create new licensing opportunities

Our position

Our approach is to keep our patent licensing business strong, creating new revenue streams from patent and technology licensing and brand partnerships. We own one of the broadest and strongest patent portfolios in our industry, built from the innovation of Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel Lucent. At the end of 2018 our patent portfolio included around 20 000 patent families, and we filed patents on more than 1 300 new inventions during 2018.

Our focus areas

Progress

 

 

 

 

Market overview

Through our comprehensive end-to-end portfolio of products and services we are addressing a market that encompasses mobile and fixed network access infrastructure, IP routing and optical networks, mobile and converged core networks, as well as software platforms and applications.

Our personal lives and enterprises are becoming increasingly more digitized, driving exponential growth in data traffic and, in turn, driving the demand for our portfolio of highly reliable and high-performance networks to support massive connectivity.

Our Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2019 will reflect our new segment reporting structure, which separates the Networks and Software businesses. For more information, see Note 37, Subsequent events, in the Financial Statements section.

Competition

The main competitors in our primary market are Huawei, Ericsson and ZTE, and in some markets we also encounter Samsung. We also compete with technology experts in some of our other market segments, such as Juniper Networks and Cisco in the IP networking and security segments, and Ciena, Adtran and Calix in the optical networks and fixed access segments. Both the optical networks and Nokia Software market segments, as well as the microwave transport market segment remain highly fragmented.

Sales and marketing

Nokia considers its customers in two distinct markets. Our primary addressable market consists of CSPs. Our current enterprise business is small in comparison with our operator business but growing fast.

The geographically divided Customer Operations (CO) organizations are the primary interface with our CSP customers. The CO Americas organization focuses on our markets in North America and Latin America, while the CO EMEA & APAC organization is responsible for our Asia Pacific & Japan, Europe, Greater China, India, and Middle East and Africa markets.

The CO organizations have a comprehensive global presence (active in approximately 130 countries) and its structure ensures that our customers benefit from dedicated management attention and from our teams’ deep understanding of local markets. This approach enables Nokia to maintain strong customer relationships.

The priority of the CO organizations is to serve our customers. And, since 2018, the CO organizations have been responsible for both delivery and sales, ensuring strong alignment between our customer-facing teams in each account. Our “One CDM” (customer delivery manager) model provides a strong counterpart to our customer team setup, ensuring that customers have a seamless experience when working with Nokia. This is particularly important given the value our customers put on Nokia’s end-to-end approach, which can provide a solution to a customer need based on portfolio elements from several of our business groups.

The CO organization also works very closely with our sales and delivery colleagues in Nokia Software to ensure the right level of customer focus and expertise in this crucial area, and with our colleagues in Nokia Enterprise to make sure that we are efficient in developing and selling the solutions that will benefit both our CSP and enterprise customers. We strongly support our “Service-Provider-as-a-Partner” (SPaaP) sales approach, in which we work in partnership with operators to address customers in the enterprise space. This model is proving to be a successful route to market for CSPs as well as for Nokia.

Research & development

We are one of the industry’s largest R&D investors in information communication technology and we drive innovation across telecommunications and vertical industries to meet the needs of a digitally connected world. Product development is continually underway to meet the high programmability, agility and efficiency requirements of the next-generation software-defined networks that will accommodate mobile and fixed broadband, IoT, intelligent analytics and automation, which are used to forge new human possibilities.

We have a global network of R&D centers, each with individual technology and competence specialties. The main R&D centers are located in Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. We believe that the geographical diversity of our R&D network is an important competitive advantage for us. In addition, the ecosystem around each R&D center helps us to connect with experts on a global scale, and our R&D network is further complemented by cooperation with universities and other research facilities.

 

Mobile Networks

Market overview

The primary market for our Mobile Networks business group includes technologies for mobile access and microwave transport. This encompasses access network technologies ranging from 2G to 5G licensed and unlicensed spectrum for both macro and small cell deployments.

Business overview and organization

We see a strong initial appetite for 5G in the most progressive and advanced mobile markets, and we are the only end-to-end mobile network vendor working with the major operators in the U.S., China, South Korea and Japan. Nokia is rolling out technology today to prepare our customers for commercial launches when 5G devices and spectrum become available.

In Mobile Networks our goal is to be the leader in 5G and provide the best value to our customers as they evolve their networks. In December 2017 the first 3GPP specifications were confirmed – including 5G New Radio (NR) – and since then, the technology and the market have moved fast. We continue to develop our 5G portfolio according to the latest 3GPP specifications and are proud of the number of industry firsts that we have completed on the path to 5G commercialization. Furthermore, we continue to invest significantly in our ReefShark processor family for baseband and RF. Our customers are moving fast as well: our first commercial 5G radio contract was signed in January 2018 with NTT DoCoMo in Japan based on 5G New Radio. As an industry, we have moved quickly from specifications to development, testing, and implementation in real networks. To this end, roughly half of our R&D personnel are fully focused on 5G and this is expected to increase as we continue to move personnel on a periodic and strategic basis. As we move from 4G to 5G, we aim to become a champion of continuous integration, continuous delivery and DevOps.

We have a global installed base that is expected to provide us with the platform for success in 5G. We have more than 400 customers in 4G/LTE and a robust AirScale platform, which can be upgraded from 4G to 5G. We built our AirScale portfolio and small cells, software and mobile transport solutions to work across all generations of technology and all relevant spectrum bands for efficient, simplified and optimized sites for our customers. In radio we build our access portfolio based on one architecture: Future X is the foundation of our reference architecture for all deployment models. The Nokia 5G Future X end-to-end product and services portfolio combines high-capacity 5G New Radio, core, SDN-controlled “Anyhaul” transport, edge clouds, and software orchestration to provide a complete set of network capabilities for commercial 5G

Competition

The mobile networks market is a highly consolidated market as a whole, and our main competitors are Huawei and Ericsson. Additionally, there are two regional vendors, ZTE and Samsung, that have an estimated market share of below 10%. The microwave transport market segment, however, remains fragmented.

 

 

Fixed Networks

Market overview

The primary market of Fixed Networks is the CSPs. In this market, the shift from copper to fiber has been accelerating in all regions and we see a strong rise of next-generation copper and fiber technologies, such as G.fast and XGS-PON (10 gigabit passive optical networks). Virtualization of fixed access networks is slowly but surely picking up. Complementary technologies such as fixed wireless access and whole-home Wi-Fi are clearly gaining traction. We have been diversifying our business into new segments, including cable MSOs, energy, government, enterprise and non-traditional players with new business models, such as investment firms.

Business overview and organization

We are diversifying our portfolio with constant innovation and have the industry’s most complete portfolio to make our customers’ business case work. In 2018 the results of our 2017 R&D investments started paying off. We had breakthroughs with the first European and Asian customers for Unified Cable Access, and the first contracts for Nokia Wi-Fi, Wireless PON and 5G to-the-home. We also signed five new virtualization customers for our software-defined access solution. We are also diversifying geographically, with breakthroughs with service providers in new and important growth markets such as Japan, South Korea and India.

The Fixed Networks strategy is based on a concept we call the “power of and”: fixed and mobile; gigabit to and into the home; the network and the cloud.

The first pillar of this strategy, fixed and mobile, is about offering the right technology mix to deliver gigabit access to more people, faster. It comprises copper, fiber, coax and fixed wireless access technologies. Nokia is a market leader in copper technologies, such as VDSL2 vectoring, Vplus and G.fast. We also increased our market share in fiber, with technologies such as GPON, ethernet point-to-point and 10 gigabit next-generation fiber technologies (with XGS-PON getting significant market traction). We have been enlarging our portfolio with new ASICs for our leading G.fast and VDSL2 solutions, new options for our copper platforms called Long Reach VDSL2 (VDSL2-LR) and new fixed wireless access products, including FastMile high-gain outdoor receivers and indoor gateways.

For cable operators, Nokia offers the true end-to-end technology capabilities needed to support growing capacity requirements today and into the future. Nokia’s Unified Cable Access solution has put an end to the industry debate on R-PHY versus R-MACPHY and offers a full toolbox of fiber, coax and virtualized distributed access architecture solutions. The Unified Access Solution is now being deployed with the first European customer, after a successful debut in the US last year. Nokia has also brought to life the technology, Full Duplex Docsis, to support 10Gbps symmetrical services over coax cable networks.

The second pillar, delivering a gigabit to and into the home, is about ensuring the perfect connectivity throughout the home. Fixed Networks has been expanding its business, evolving into the whole-home Wi-Fi market with the Nokia Wi-Fi portfolio. Nokia Wi-Fi provides perfect coverage in every corner of the home, supporting CSPs in their goals to offer managed Wi-Fi services and deliver a superior customer experience. Third-party tests show superior performance of the Nokia Wi-Fi beacons. The first customers are signed up and have started offering the service to their subscribers.

As networks become ever more complex, given the diversity of technologies and deployment options, the third pillar of our strategy looks at simplifying and automating operations. Virtualization plays a key role in this. Moving functions to the cloud makes networks easier to manage and scale. With our software-defined access network solution, Nokia takes a pragmatic approach. Our strength and competitive advantage lie in the fact that our virtualization solution offers a smooth migration path for service providers to gradually evolve their legacy equipment to a software-defined network combined with the coexistence with legacy systems that CSPs may decide not to evolve. We launched our fully open and programmable fixed access network slicing solution, and our Multivendor ONU Connect, the industry’s only fully open, virtualized solution that resolves PON CPEs multivendor interoperability (one of the biggest pain points for fiber operators) and signed up five new customers.

Enabled by Nokia’s advanced automation and analytics, Nokia launched the Fixed Access Health Index for service providers, a new metric for measuring and benchmarking the quality and performance of fixed access networks.

Competition

The competitive landscape in fixed access for CSPs has two major key players, Nokia and Huawei, who have the bulk of market share. ZTE, in third position, has been impacted by the U.S. components ban. Smaller players like Calix and Adtran in North America and Fiberhome in China have limited footprint and have a market share smaller than 10% and no comparable breadth of portfolio.

 

Global Services

Market overview

The Global Services business group’s market includes network infrastructure and professional services for mobile networks, in addition to managed services for the fixed, mobile, applications, IP and optical domains.

Business overview and organization

The services, solutions and multi-vendor capabilities of our Global Services business group help CSPs and enterprises in the transport, energy and public sectors (TEPS) navigate through the evolving technology landscape, network complexity and data growth. We work with them to improve end user experience while providing support in day-to-day network planning, implementation, operations and maintenance.

Our Global Services offering allows Nokia to differentiate in the 5G market while helping operators prioritize their 5G investments and bring 5G-based services to the market faster. Nokia 5G Acceleration Services portfolio helps CSPs prepare for 5G business cases and assess the technical choices, plan and design the end-to-end deployment and manage the complexity of multi-vendor and legacy networks.

Our other key focus area in Global Services is empowering CSPs to transform to digital service providers. We are building a new digital architecture for the full life cycle of network design, deployment, operations and technical support – both for legacy and cloud-based networks. We tap into advanced analytics, powered by Nokia AVA, our cognitive service delivery platform, to help boost network performance, operational efficiency and customer experience. Software robots speed up network upgrades – for example, 11 000 eNodeBs were upgraded in one night with 100% accuracy for a large tier 1 operator. We also help digital service providers to seize the possibilities of IoT and enter new markets using Nokia Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING), which provides seamless connectivity across geographical borders and technologies. We enable our customers to enter new markets rapidly and with low risk through pay-as-you-grow or revenue share models where, for example, WING and Nokia AVA’s Analytics Services are provided as-a-Service (aaS).

We have invested heavily in automation, data science and artificial intelligence. Our digital field force is empowered by augmented reality and video support from our Global Delivery Centers. In 2018 we completed the first successful deployments on our crowdsourcing platform. Our engineers process 6 million trouble tickets each year using artificial intelligence and help ensure the best experience for more than 1 billion subscribers worldwide.

Global Services introduced a new organizational structure effective in August 2018 to accelerate its strategy execution, drive efficiencies in the established base businesses, such as network deployment and technical support, and capture new business opportunities, for example in analytics and Industrial IoT.

Competition

In a market segment that combines products and services as well as managed services, Nokia competes against Huawei, Ericsson, ZTE and Cisco, while for the service-led businesses like cognitive network analytics services and IoT and systems integration, we see other competitors such as Netcracker, HPE and IBM emerging in addition to Ericsson and Huawei.

 

 

IP/Optical Networks

Market overview

The primary market for our IP/Optical Networks business group includes routing and optical technologies and related services sold to CSPs. This market includes technologies such as IP aggregation, edge and core routing, mobile packet core, wavelength division multiplexing, and packet optical transport networking solutions. We also have analytics and end-to-end SDN solutions.

A growing portion of our IP/Optical Networks revenue is derived from adjacent markets, which include customer segments like webscale companies and enterprises. In the enterprise segment, we address verticals like TEPS and support hyperscale networking for health care, finance and retail enterprises. We address these mission-critical markets with our IP, optical and Nuage Networks portfolios.

Business overview and organization

For our IP/Optical Networks business group, we provide the highly reliable and massively scalable networks that underpin the digital world’s dynamic interconnectivity. Our portfolio of robust and innovative software, systems and services play across multiple domains, from programmable IP and optical transport networks for the smart fabric to analytics and software-defined capabilities for the programmable network operating system and more.

CSP networks are under tremendous pressure from cloud-based applications, ultra-broadband evolution and the Industrial IoT. Our IP and optical networking solutions reduce time to market and risk as CSPs launch new services, enabling rapid scaling to meet surging demands with optimal configurations. Our insight-driven network automation solutions help to further ensure that network services are delivered with consistent quality, reliability and security and that restorative actions are automatically initiated when any parameter varies beyond set limits. These carrier-grade attributes also address the needs of – and are valued by – our webscale, TEPS and large enterprise customers.

The IP/Optical Networks product portfolio includes:

Competition

Our competitive landscape in this space includes Cisco, Juniper Networks and Huawei, in addition to various specialized players in optical such as Ciena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nokia Software

Market overview

As service providers and large enterprises seek to modernize their businesses by leveraging 5G, they are propelling a clear growth market in telecommunications. The Nokia Software portfolio is designed to help customers accelerate their digital reinvention and power the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our network-agnostic and cloud-native software solutions:

In this business space we sell primarily to a CSP market and Nokia Software continues to expand into new vertical markets and emerging technologies.

Business overview and organization

The Nokia Software business has an important edge over traditional software vendors. Rooted in our deep understanding of our customers’ networks, we bridge the gap between their business and their network with a level of intelligence unparalleled for our industry. Our mission is to help our customers operate in digital time – modernizing the slow, siloed and monolithic systems that weigh them down today with more agile, intelligent and lightweight solutions. By rebuilding our software applications on a Common Software Foundation, we are increasing innovation velocity while at the same time ensuring that our products are easier to deploy, use and maintain. Our modern software solutions are based on five key principles: extreme automation, actionable insight, high trust, cloud-native, and multi-vendor/multi-network capabilities.

The Nokia Software portfolio contains:

Competition

Nokia is #1 in sales of telecom software products and is one of only two large players in the market that are stable and growing, according to Analysys Mason. However, this market remains highly fragmented, with more than half of the market served by niche players or in-house custom solutions. As such, we see significant opportunity to increase our market share.

Our competitors fall into two categories: independent software vendors (ISVs) and network equipment providers (NEPs). The main ISV competitors are Amdocs, Netcracker and Oracle. This is an area where we see increasing competition from niche players. The main NEP competitors are Huawei and Ericsson, selling software as part of large infrastructure deals.

 

 

 

Nokia Enterprise

Market overview

In 2018 Nokia successfully addressed the enterprise customer segment. Recognizing the growth potential of our business within this segment, we created a new business group, Nokia Enterprise, effective January 1, 2019. Our Enterprise business group addresses the mission- and business-critical networking requirements of asset-intensive industries such as transportation, energy, manufacturing and logistics – as well as governments and smart cities. The business group also supports hyperscale networking for health care, finance and retail enterprises and webscale players.

Business overview and organization

Nokia has a strong track record of helping enterprises modernize the communications networks they rely on to supervise and manage a range of operations, employing technologies across the IP, optical, microwave, fixed and mobile access domains. To date we have deployed more than 1 000 such networks across our key target vertical markets. 

Today a range of enterprises are looking to harness major technology shifts in areas such as ubiquitous connectivity, analytics, cloud and the Industrial IoT to digitalize and automate critical processes and drive massive gains in business and industrial productivity. 

Enterprises can benefit from digitalization, better asset management, improved processes, deeper levels of network security and new business models that will arise from pervasive connectivity.

High-performance networking is at the nexus of these trends, addressing the demand for pervasive connectivity with smart network infrastructure (increasingly wireless) that seamlessly connects everyone and everything, everywhere. Our proven enterprise portfolio provides the foundation for more than 1 000 mission-critical networks, incorporating technologies from across Nokia’s Access, IP/Optical Networks, Software and Global Services portfolios, coupled with enterprise-specific products for digital automation, analytics and IoT.

This end-to-end portfolio supports the Future X for industries network architecture developed by Nokia Bell Labs, a blueprint for future industrial networks that intelligently combines high-performance, ubiquitous access and intelligent IP/optical networks with agile multi-cloud-enabled solutions, analytics-driven digital value platforms and business applications – with security capabilities embedded at all levels – to support industrial automation.

We are also driving the adoption of multi-cloud, IoT and automation with strategic investments in emerging technologies such as SDN, data center and SD-WAN applications and more. Notable developments in 2018 include the launch of the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud – our plug-and-play private wireless connectivity and automation platform designed for Industrial IoT applications; and the combination of Nokia’s 2018 acquisition of SpaceTime Insight with the company’s home-grown scene analytics innovations.

The Enterprise business group targets a select group of industries, which includes the following:

Transportation, energy and public sector (TEPS)

We expect our networks to be the foundation for next-generation smart grids that effectively match energy generation with demand and help power utilities explore new energy distribution models. We provide oil, gas and mining companies with private LTE networks to bring new levels of performance to a range of mission-critical operations, protecting lives and increasing productivity.

For railway, highway, aviation and maritime industries, we build operational technology networks that support railway signaling, airport communications, air traffic control, digital signage and toll collection, and on-board broadband and infotainment.

Nokia’s technology helps first responders save lives, supporting traditional two-way radio communications, while laying the foundation for advanced control centers and the data-rich mobile broadband services to enhance situational awareness and operational intelligence.

As cities seek to become smarter, Nokia offers a platform-based approach to support the connectivity, data sharing and usage control capabilities needed for smarter parking, lighting, traffic management and other municipal services. And we are partnering with governments and new network providers to bring broadband to remote, under-served communities.

Hyperscale enterprise

Nokia offers hyperscale enterprises a comprehensive solution set to help them meet their data needs while addressing stringent compliance, privacy and security requirements. Nokia solutions enable the connection of enterprise branches to clouds, both public and private, to enable their users to use their business applications from anywhere, over any broadband network. Nokia delivers IP, optical and SDN solutions to enable this connectivity.

Webscale companies

The webscale companies are a select group of enterprises that handle millions of transactions per day, demand hyper-efficiency in content delivery and support exceptional online experiences. We enable these companies to intelligently and instantaneously scale their services through automated cloud-based global service delivery platforms with robust cybersecurity features by leveraging our intelligent IP and optical networking solutions.

Competition

The competitive landscape for the enterprise space is broad and includes many specialized players focused on specific markets. The primary players active in supplying high-performance networking and mission-critical fixed and mobile communications technologies across a range of market segments include Nokia, Cisco, Juniper, Huawei and Ericsson.

2018 highlights

 

 

 

Market overview

Nokia Technologies is focused on licensing Nokia intellectual property, including patents, technologies and the Nokia brand, building on Nokia’s continued innovation and decades of R&D leadership in technologies used in virtually all connected devices used today.

Business overview and organization

Following the sale of our Digital Health business in 2018, Nokia Technologies has exited the direct-to-customer market and is now focused on licensing. 

In addition, our Intellectual Property organization manages the Nokia patent portfolio, working with all other Nokia businesses.

Sales and marketing

Our Patent Business is responsible for monetizing our intellectual property by making our innovations available to the markets through licensing activities and transactions. Nokia Technologies currently has more than half of the mobile phone market by volume under license.

Nokia Technologies also continues to engage in global sales and marketing activities supporting the technology licensing of our innovative audiovisual solutions such as OZO Audio.

Nokia Technologies sees further opportunities in licensing its proprietary technologies, intellectual property and brand assets into further markets such as Internet of Things and related industries.

Research and development

The applied nature of our R&D in the Finland-based Media Technologies Research Lab in Nokia Technologies has resulted in various relevant and valuable inventions in areas that we believe are important for emerging consumer experiences, such as audio standardization.

Patents and licenses

For more than 20 years, we have defined many of the fundamental technologies used in virtually all mobile devices and taken a leadership role in standards setting. As a result, we own a leading share of essential patents for GSM, 3G radio and 4G LTE technologies. We are a leading contributor to the development of 5G standards and declared more than 1 400 patent families for the standard during 2018, with more to follow. We expect to also have a leading position in 5G standards essential patents.

As part of our active portfolio management approach, we are continuously evaluating our collective assets and taking actions to optimize the size of our overall portfolio while preserving the high quality of our patents. At the end of 2018, our portfolio stands at around 20 000 patent families, built on combined R&D investments of more than EUR 126 billion over the last two decades.

We continue to refresh our portfolio from R&D activities across all Nokia businesses, filing patent applications on more than 1 300 new inventions in 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New patent filings in 2018

1 300+

R&D investment over the last two decades

~EUR 126bn

Patent licensees

100+

 

 

Nokia Bell Labs is the world-renowned industrial research and innovation arm of Nokia.

Over its 93-year history, Nokia Bell Labs has invented many of the foundational technologies that underpin information and communications networks and all digital devices and systems.

This research has resulted in nine Nobel Prizes (including one in 2018), two Turing Awards, three Japan Prizes and a plethora of National Medals of Science and Engineering, as well as an Oscar, two Grammys and an Emmy for technical innovation. Nokia Bell Labs continues to conduct disruptive research focused on solving the challenges of the new digital era, defined by the contextual connection and interaction of everything and everyone.

With Nokia Bell Labs, we search for the fundamental limits of what is possible, rather than being constrained by the current state of the art.

We look to the future to understand essential human needs and the potential barriers to enabling this new human existence. We then use our unique diversity of research intellects, disciplines and perspectives to solve the key complex problems by aiming to discover or invent disruptive innovations that have the power to enable new economic capabilities, new societal behaviors, new business models and new types of services – in other words, to drive human and technological revolutions.

Our research is focused on key scientific, technological, engineering or mathematical areas that require ten times or more improvement in one or more dimensions. We then combine these areas of research into the Future X network architecture, which aims to bring these disruptive research elements together into industry-redefining solutions. These innovations are brought to market through our business groups or through technology and patent licensing. Nokia Bell Labs also engages directly with the market and customers through our consulting practice to help define the path to the future network with business model innovation and the optimum techno-economics.

This model of defining future needs and inventing game-changing solutions to critical problems while advising the market on the path forward has been the constant mission of Nokia Bell Labs.

Nokia Bell Labs is structured into three functional areas to optimize how we create a foundation to disrupt and transform the future:

 

Arthur Ashkin wins The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018

Arthur Ashkin, a former Bell Laboratories researcher, was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems” on October 2, 2018.

Arthur Ashkin shares the prize with Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland, “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.” The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences administers the Nobel Prize for Physics and said they were awarding this year’s winners “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics.”

Arthur Ashkin was born on September 2, 1922 (age 96) in Brooklyn, New York. He received a B.A. in physics from Columbia College in 1947 and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Cornell University in 1952. Ashkin worked at the Columbia Radiation Lab from 1942 to 1945 while in the Army. In 1952, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories and started working in the microwave field and then switched to laser research.

Arthur Ashkin invented optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers. As is always the case at Bell Labs, the breakthrough came as a byproduct of research in the fundamentals of communications – in this case, optical communications research into non-linear optical systems. Out of his work on advanced laser optics came the ability to use optical ‘pressure’ from high powered lasers to control microscopic particles. A major breakthrough came in 1987, when Ashkin used optical tweezers to capture living bacteria without harming them. The optical tweezers he pioneered are now widely used to investigate the machinery of life.

 

 

 

 

 

Operating and financial review and prospects

Contents

 

 

 

 

Business-specific trends

Networks business

We are a leading vendor in the network and IP infrastructure, software, and the related services market. We provide a broad range of products, from the hardware components of networks used by communications service providers and increasingly by customers in other select verticals, to network agnostic software solutions, as well as services to plan, optimize, implement, run and upgrade networks. Our Networks business is conducted through six business groups: Mobile Networks, Fixed Networks, Global Services, IP/Optical Networks, Nokia Enterprise and Nokia Software. These business groups provide an end-to-end portfolio of hardware, software and services to enable us to deliver the next generation of leading networks solutions and services to our customers. We aim for all six business groups to be innovation leaders, drawing on our frontline R&D capabilities to deliver leading products and services for our customers, and ultimately ensure our long-term value creation. For more information on the Networks business refer to “Business overview—Networks business” above.

Industry trends

The network and IP infrastructure, software and related services industry has witnessed certain prominent trends in recent years, which have also affected our Networks business. First, the increase in the use of data services and the resulting exponential increase in data traffic has resulted in an increased need for high-performance, high-quality and highly reliable networks. This trend is one of the leading drivers for the start of the 5G cycle, which has been accelerated by communications service providers, as evidenced by our growing order book. The continuing increase in data traffic has, however, not been directly reflected in communications service providers’ revenue. Consequently, there is an increased need to be efficient and cost competitive for both communications service providers and network infrastructure and services vendors.

Second, we are witnessing continued consolidation among communications service providers, driven by their desire to provide a wider scope of services, especially through the convergence of disparate network technologies across mobile, fixed, and IP and optical networks. In order to improve networks in terms of coverage, capacity and quality, communications service providers are continuing their transition to all-IP architectures, with an emphasis on fast access to their networks through copper, fiber, LTE and single RAN access and new digital services delivery. We are also seeing similar trends with cable operators, who are investing in the deployment of high-speed networks. Our end-to-end portfolio of products and services can be utilized to address both the fixed mobile convergence and the transition to all-IP architectures.

Third, we see an increasing demand for large high-performance networks in some key areas outside the traditional communications service provider space, which we define as select vertical markets. Webscale companies and extra-large enterprises - such as Apple, Facebook, Google, Alibaba and Amazon - are investing in cloud technology and network infrastructure to build these high-performing, secure networks. In addition, other target vertical markets such as energy, transportation and the public sector are investing to build carrier-grade, mission-critical networks.

The first three pillars of our strategy are aligned with these industry trends for our Networks business. We continue to execute well on our strategy, with a particular focus on high-performance, end-to-end networks, expansion into new select verticals and building a new network-agnostic software business. To accelerate this momentum and increase customer focus as the 5G era beings, we announced plans to realign parts of our organization according to our strategy on October 25, 2018. More information about these plans can be found in “Business overview—Our strategy”.

Pricing and price erosion

In 2018, we did not witness a dramatic change in the overall competitive environment in our industry. We did witness some pricing pressure from a small number of large customers funding their 5G entry within their existing budget plans.

Product mix

The profitability of our Networks business is affected by our product mix, including the share of software in the sales mix. This is particularly evident during large technology cycles, as initial deployments consist of a larger portion of hardware and services and less software. This ratio shifts more towards higher-margin software further into the cycle, as additional capacity and features are deployed. As the initial phases of deployments tend to be lower margin, this is offset by the ongoing deployment of previous generation technologies, which tend to be higher margin.

Products and services also have varying profitability profiles. For instance, our Ultra Broadband Networks and IP Networks and Applications reportable segments offer a combination of hardware and software, which generally have higher gross margins, but also require significant R&D investment, whereas the Global Services reportable segment has offerings that are typically labor-intensive, while carrying low R&D investment, and have relatively low gross margins compared to the hardware and software products.

Seasonality and cyclical nature of projects

Net sales in our Networks business are affected by seasonality in the spending cycles of communications service providers, with generally higher sales in the fourth quarter, followed by generally lower sales in the first quarter. In addition to normal industry seasonality, there are normal peaks and troughs in the deployment of large infrastructure projects. As an example, the 5G technology cycle has accelerated over the past year, as commercial deployments started in 2018 and are expected to continue in 2019 and beyond. The timing of these projects depends on a number of factors, including new radio spectrum allocation, network upgrade cycles and the availability of new consumer devices and services, which in turn could affect the net sales of our Networks business.

Continued operational efficiency improvements

In 2018, our Networks business continued to focus on operational improvements across its business groups, in an effort to complete the cost savings program put in place following the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent. Upon completion of the Alcatel Lucent integration as of the end of 2018, we are now moving to the next phase of restructuring, where we will focus on optimization and ensuring that we are lean in every part of our business. In order to continue to make our Networks business more efficient, higher-performing and positioned for long-term success, we aim to further strengthen our productivity, efficiency and competitive cost structure through strong operational discipline.

Accordingly, on October 25, 2018, we announced a new cost reduction program where we intend to target substantial savings while continuing to make further investments to drive future growth and higher returns. The savings are expected to come from a wide range of areas, including investments in digitalization to drive more automation and productivity, further process and tool simplification, significant reductions in central support functions to reach best-in-class cost levels, prioritization of R&D programs to best create long-term value, a sharp reduction of R&D in legacy products, driving efficiency from further application of our common software foundation and innovative software development techniques, the consolidation of selected cross-company activities and further reductions in real estate and other overhead costs.

Cost of components and raw materials

There are several important factors driving the profitability and competitiveness of our Networks business: scale, operational efficiency, pricing, and cost discipline. The costs of our networks products are comprised of, among others, components, manufacturing, labor and overheads, royalties and licensing fees, depreciation of product machinery, logistics and warranty and other quality costs.

Nokia Networks’ profitability can be affected by changes in the sales volume, as well as the requirement to source large volumes of components on short notice, which can impact the cost of sales, or in cases where component shortages emerge, the net sales.

Nokia Technologies

Nokia Technologies is focused on pursuing new licensing opportunities for our valuable intellectual property, including patents, innovative technologies and know-how, and the Nokia brand.

The Nokia Technologies strategy consists of: 1) patent licensing, where we license standard-essential and other patents in the Nokia portfolio to companies in the mobile devices market and beyond; 2) technology licensing, focused on licensing proprietary audio visual technologies to enable licensees to build more innovative products; and 3) brand licensing, enabling licensees to leverage the value of the Nokia brand in consumer markets.

Following a review of strategic options for Nokia’s Digital Health business, which used to be a part of Nokia Technologies, in May 2018 we announced and closed the sale of this business to Eric Carreel, co-founder and former chairman of Withings.

Monetization strategies of IPR

Success in the technology industry requires significant R&D investment, with the resulting patents and other Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) utilized to protect and generate a return on those investments and related inventions. We believe we are well-positioned to protect, and build on, our existing industry-leading patent portfolio, and consequently to increase our shareholders’ value.

We see a number of means of monetizing these opportunities: on the one hand, we seek to license our patent portfolio, and new technological innovations that can be integrated into other companies’ products and services. On the other hand, we also engage in brand licensing to leverage the Nokia brand in consumer devices.

In patent licensing, the main opportunities we are pursuing are: (1) renewing existing license agreements and negotiating new license agreements with mobile phone manufacturers; and (2) expanding the scope of licensing activities to other industries, in particular those that implement mobile communication technologies such as automotive and consumer electronics. Following the sale of our Devices and Services business in 2014, we no longer need patent licenses for our own mobile phone business, enabling the possibility of improving the balance of inbound and outbound patent licensing.

In brand licensing, we will continue to seek further opportunities to bring the Nokia brand into consumer markets, by licensing our brand and other intellectual property. We continue to work with HMD Global, our exclusive licensee for the Nokia brand for phones and tablets, who has launched 12 new Android smartphones and five new feature phones during 2018.

In technology licensing, our newest business, the opportunities are more long-term in our view, but we will look at opportunities to license technologies developed by Nokia Technologies which can be integrated by licensees into their products and services.

General trends in IPR licensing

In general, there has been increased focus on IPR protection and licensing in the market, and this trend is expected to continue. As such, new agreements are generally a product of lengthy negotiations and occasionally through arbitration or litigation, and therefore the timing and outcome may be difficult to forecast. Due to the structure of patent license agreements, the payments may be infrequent, at times may be partly retrospective, and the lengths of license agreements can vary.

Additionally, there are clear regional differences in the ease of protecting and licensing patented innovations. We have seen some licensees actively avoiding making license payments, and some licensors using aggressive methods to collect them; both behaviors have attracted regulatory attention. We expect discussion of the regulation of licensing to continue at both global and regional level. Some of those regulatory developments may be adverse to the interests of technology developers and patent owners, including us.

Research, development and patent portfolio development

As the creation of new technology assets and patented innovations is heavily focused on R&D activities with long lead-times to incremental revenues, we may from time to time see investment opportunities that have strategic importance. This generally affects operating expenses before sales reflect a return on those investments.

Financial markets trends

We are a company with global operations and net sales derived from various countries, invoiced in various currencies. Therefore, our business and results from operations are exposed to changes in exchange rates between the euro, our reporting currency, and other currencies, such as the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan. The magnitude of foreign exchange exposures changes over time as a function of our net sales and costs in different markets, as well as the prevalent currencies used for transactions in those markets. Significant changes in exchange rates may also impact our competitive position and related price pressures through their impact on our competitors.

To mitigate the impact of changes in exchange rates on our results, we hedge material net foreign exchange exposures (net sales less costs in a currency) typically with a hedging horizon of approximately 12 months. For the majority of these hedges, hedge accounting is applied to reduce income statement volatility.

In 2018, approximately 25% of Group net sales and approximately 30% of Group total costs were denominated in euro. In 2018, approximately 45% of Group net sales and total costs were denominated in U.S. dollars and approximately 10% in Chinese yuan.

The average currency mix for Group net sales and total costs:

During 2018, the U.S. dollar first depreciated against the euro but then started appreciating against the euro from the second quarter onwards. Overall for the full year 2018 compared to previous year, the U.S. dollar was weaker against the euro on year-on-year basis and this had a negative impact on our net sales reported in euros. However, the weaker U.S. dollar on year-on-year basis also contributed to lower cost of sales and slightly lower operating expenses. In total, before hedging, the weaker U.S. dollar on year-on-year basis had an approximately neutral effect on our operating profit in 2018.

For the full year 2018 compared to previous year, the Chinese yuan was weaker against the euro on year-on-year basis and this had a slightly negative impact on our net sales expressed in euros. However, the weaker Chinese yuan on year-on-year basis also contributed to slightly lower cost of sales and operating expenses. In total, before hedging, the weaker Chinese yuan on year-on-year basis had an approximately neutral effect on our operating profit in 2018.

For a discussion of the instruments used by us in connection with our hedging activities, refer to Note 36, Financial risk management of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20-F. Refer also to “Operating and financial review and prospects—Risk factors”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The financial information included in this “Operating and financial review and prospects” section as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 and for each of the three years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20‑F. The financial information as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 and for each of the three years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements.

At the end of 2018, we had two businesses: Nokia’s Networks business and Nokia Technologies, and four reportable segments for financial reporting purposes: (1) Ultra Broadband Networks, (2) Global Services and (3) IP Networks and Applications within Nokia’s Networks business; and (4) Nokia Technologies. We also present certain segment-level information for Group Common and Other as well as for Discontinued operations. In 2018 the Group applied IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, and IFRS 15, Contracts with Customers, for the first time. The financial information as of December 31, 2017 and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 has not been restated for the effects of the new accounting standards. Refer to Note 3, New and amended standards and interpretations, in the consolidated financial statements.

Continuing operations

For the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017

The following table sets forth selective line items and the percentage of net sales for the years indicated.

 

 

Net sales

Net sales in 2018 were EUR 22 563 million, a decrease of EUR 584 million, or 3%, compared to EUR 23 147 million in 2017. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to a decrease in Nokia’s Networks business net sales, and, to a lesser extent a decrease in Nokia Technologies and Group Common and Other net sales.

The following table sets forth distribution of net sales by geographical area for the years indicated.

(1)   All Nokia Technologies IPR and licensing net sales are allocated to Finland.

Gross profit

Gross profit in 2018 was EUR 8 446 million, a decrease of EUR 693 million, or 8%, compared to EUR 9 139 million in 2017. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to lower gross profit in Nokia’s Networks business and Nokia Technologies, as well as higher product portfolio integration-related costs, partially offset by lower working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments. Gross margin in 2018 was 37.4%, compared to 39.5% in 2017. In 2018, gross profit included product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 548 million and working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments of EUR 16 million. In 2017, gross profit included product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 453 million and working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments of EUR 55 million.

Operating expenses

Our research and development expenses in 2018 were EUR 4 620 million, a decrease of EUR 296 million, or 6%, compared to EUR 4 916 million in 2017. Research and development expenses represented 20.5% of our net sales in 2018 compared to 21.2% in 2017. The decrease in research and development expenses were due to decreases in Nokia’s Networks business and Nokia Technologies research and development expenses, as well as lower amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets and property, plant and equipment and product portfolio integration-related costs. In 2018, research and development expenses included amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets and property, plant and equipment of EUR 576 million, compared to EUR 633 million in 2017, as well as product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 28 million, compared to EUR 57 million in 2017.

Our selling, general and administrative expenses in 2018 were EUR 3 463 million, a decrease of EUR 152 million, or 4%, compared to EUR 3 615 million in 2017. Selling, general and administrative expenses represented 15.3% of our net sales in 2018 compared to 15.6% in 2017. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a decrease in Nokia Technologies selling, general and administrative expenses, lower amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets, and property, plant and equipment, and lower Group Common and Other selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses included amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets, and property, plant and equipment of EUR 358 million in 2018 compared to EUR 394 million in 2017, as well as transaction and integration-related costs of EUR 207 million, compared to EUR 194 million in 2017.

Other income and expenses in 2018 was a net expense of EUR 422 million, a decrease of EUR 170 million, compared to a net expense of EUR 592 million in 2017. The net positive fluctuation in our other income and expenses was primarily due to lower restructuring and associated charges, lower impairment charges and a net positive fluctuation in Group Common and Other other income and expenses. These were partially offset by a net negative fluctuation in Nokia’s Networks business other income and expenses, charges related to fair value changes of a legacy IPR fund and charges related to the divestment of businesses. Other income and expenses included restructuring and associated charges of EUR 319 million in 2018 compared to EUR 576 million in 2017.

In 2018, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge to other income and expenses of EUR 48 million, compared to EUR 141 million in 2017. In 2017, the charge was due to the impairment of goodwill related to our digital health business, which was part of Nokia Technologies. The impairment charge was allocated to the carrying amount of goodwill held within the digital health cash generating unit, which was reduced to zero. In 2017, we also recorded a non-cash impairment charge to other income and expenses of EUR 32 million related to acquired intangible assets in Nokia’s Networks business.

Operating profit/loss

Our operating loss in 2018 was EUR 59 million, a change of EUR 75 million, compared to an operating profit of EUR 16 million in 2017. The change in operating result was primarily due to a lower gross profit, partially offset by lower research and development expenses, a net positive fluctuation in other income and expenses and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. Our operating margin in both 2018 and 2017 was approximately break even.

The following table sets forth the impact of unallocated items on operating profit/loss:

(1)   Excludes costs related to the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent and related integration, goodwill impairment charges, intangible asset amortization and other purchase price fair value adjustments, restructuring and associated charges and certain other items.

 

Financial income and expenses

Financial income and expenses was a net expense of EUR 313 million in 2018 compared to a net expense of EUR 537 million in 2017, a decrease of EUR 224 million, or 42%. The net positive fluctuation in financial income and expenses was primarily due to the absence of EUR 220 million of costs related to the offer to purchase the 6.50% notes due January 15, 2028, the 6.45% notes due March 15, 2029, the 6.75% notes due February 4, 2019 and the 5.375% notes due May 15, 2019, that negatively impacted 2017; lower losses from foreign exchange fluctuations; and the absence of a loss on the sale of financial assets that negatively impacted 2017. This was partially offset by the absence of gains from venture fund investments, as they were no longer recognized in financial income and expenses in 2018 following the adoption of IFRS 9, and the inclusion of expenses associated with customer receivables and overdue payments in financial income and expenses as a result of the adoption of IFRS 15.

Refer to “—Liquidity and capital resources” below.

Loss before tax

Our loss before tax in 2018 was EUR 360 million, a decrease of EUR 150 million compared to a loss of EUR 510 million in 2017.

Income tax

Income taxes was a net expense of EUR 189 million in 2018, a decrease of EUR 738 million compared to a net expense of EUR 927 million in 2017. The change in net income taxes was primarily attributable to the following expenses recorded in 2017: deferred tax expense of EUR 777 million from re-measurement of deferred tax assets resulting from the tax rate change in the United States, a non-recurring tax expense of EUR 245 million related to the integration of the former Alcatel Lucent and Nokia operating models, and income taxes for prior years of EUR 139 million from to the disposal of the former Alcatel Lucent railway signaling business in 2006 to Thalès. This was partially offset by three factors: higher income taxes due to increased profitability and our regional profit mix in 2018 compared to 2017, Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax in the United States, enacted as part of the tax reform and applicable from 2018 onwards, and deferred tax expense resulting from the write-off of certain deferred tax assets in 2018,  primarily related to foreign withholding tax credits in Finland. Refer to Note 13, Income taxes, of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20-F.

The United States passed a comprehensive set of tax reforms into law on December 22, 2017. The new law, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, contains several changes that are applicable to us, many of which became effective for tax years beginning in 2018. Most notably, the U.S. federal statutory tax rate was reduced from 35% to 21%. In addition, the new law made significant modifications to the taxation of cross-border transactions which we expect to have an impact on certain transactions between our subsidiaries in the United States and our subsidiaries outside the United States. Regulatory guidance with respect to the new tax law will continue be published by the U.S. tax authorities in the future and such guidance may have an impact on our cross-border transactions. We have made reasonable estimates related to the tax law’s impact in our December 31, 2018 consolidated financial statements, as appropriate.

Loss attributable to equity holders of the parent and earnings per share

The loss attributable to equity holders of the parent in 2018 was EUR 340 million, a decrease of EUR 1 154 million, compared to a loss of EUR 1 494 million in 2017. The change in profit attributable to equity holders of the parent was primarily due to lower income tax expenses and a net positive fluctuation in financial income and expenses. This was partially offset by an operating loss in 2018, compared to an operating profit in 2017.

Our total EPS from continuing operations in 2018 was negative EUR 0.10 (basic) and negative EUR 0.10 (diluted) compared to negative EUR 0.26 (basic) and negative EUR 0.26 (diluted) in 2017.

Cost savings program

On April 6, 2016, we launched a cost savings program, targeting approximately EUR 1 200 million of recurring annual cost savings to be achieved in full year 2018. At the end of 2018, we completed the restructuring activities related to this cost savings program and achieved the EUR 1 200 million of recurring annual cost savings targeted. In 2018, we recognized restructuring and associated charges of approximately EUR 300 million related to the cost savings program. Cumulative recognized restructuring and associated charges were approximately EUR 1 600 million.

In 2018, we had restructuring and associated cash outflows of approximately EUR 500 million related to the cost savings program. Cumulative restructuring and associated cash outflows were approximately EUR 1 450 million and we expect total restructuring and associated cash outflows to be approximately EUR 2 100 million, related to this cost savings program.

For the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the year ended December 31, 2016

The following table sets forth selective line items and the percentage of net sales for the years indicated.

 

Net sales

Net sales in 2017 were EUR 23 147 million, a decrease of EUR 494 million, or 2%, compared to EUR 23 641 million in 2016. The decrease in net sales was primarily due to a decrease in Nokia’s Networks business net sales, partially offset by an increase in Nokia Technologies net sales.

The following table sets forth distribution of net sales by geographical area for the years indicated.

(1)   All Nokia Technologies IPR and licensing net sales are allocated to Finland.

 

Gross profit

Gross profit in 2017 was EUR 9 139 million, an increase of EUR 615 million, or 7%, compared to EUR 8 524 million in 2016. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to lower working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments and higher gross profit in Nokia Technologies, partially offset by lower gross profit in Nokia’s Networks business and higher product portfolio integration-related costs. Gross margin in 2017 was 39.5%, compared to 36.1% in 2016. In 2017, gross profit included product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 453 million and working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments of EUR 55 million. In 2016, gross profit included working capital-related purchase price allocation adjustments of EUR 840 million, which resulted in higher cost of sales and lower gross profit when the inventory was sold; and product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 274 million.

Operating expenses

Our research and development expenses in 2017 were EUR 4 916 million, a decrease of EUR 81 million, or 2%, compared to EUR 4 997 million in 2016. Research and development expenses represented 21.2% of our net sales in 2017 compared to 21.1% in 2016. The decrease in research and development expenses were due to decreases in Nokia’s Networks business, Group Common and Other and Nokia Technologies research and development expenses. In 2017, research and development expenses included amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets and property, plant and equipment of EUR 633 million, compared to EUR 619 million in 2016, as well as product portfolio integration-related costs of EUR 57 million, compared to EUR 62 million in 2016.

Our selling, general and administrative expenses in 2017 were EUR 3 615 million, a decrease of EUR 152 million, or 4%, compared to EUR 3 767 million in 2016. Selling, general and administrative expenses represented 15.6% of our net sales in 2017 compared to 15.9% in 2016. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses was primarily due to lower transaction and integration-related costs, a decrease in Nokia’s Networks business selling, general and administrative expenses and, to a lesser extent, Group Common and Other selling, general and administrative expenses, partially offset by an increase in Nokia Technologies selling, general and administrative expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses included amortization and depreciation of acquired intangible assets, and property, plant and equipment of EUR 394 million in 2017 compared to EUR 386 million in 2016, as well as transaction and integration-related costs of EUR 194 million, compared to EUR 294 million in 2016.

Other income and expenses in 2017 was a net expense of EUR 592 million, a change of EUR 268 million, compared to a net expense of EUR 860 million in 2016. The net positive fluctuation in our other income and expenses was primarily due to lower restructuring and associated charges and a net positive fluctuation in Nokia’s Networks business and Group Common and Other other income and expenses, partially offset by impairment charges. Other income and expenses included restructuring and associated charges of EUR 576 million in 2017 compared to EUR 759 million in 2016.

In 2017, as a result of challenging business conditions, we recorded a non-cash charge to other income and expenses of EUR 141 million, due to the impairment of goodwill related to our Digital Health business, which was part of Nokia Technologies. The impairment charge was allocated to the carrying amount of goodwill held within the digital health cash generating unit, which was reduced to zero. In 2017, we also recorded a non-cash impairment charge to other income and expenses of EUR 32 million related to acquired intangible assets in Nokia’s Networks business.

Operating profit/loss

Our operating profit in 2017 was EUR 16 million, a change of EUR 1 116 million, compared to an operating loss of EUR 1 100 million in 2016. The change in operating result was primarily due to a higher gross profit and, to a lesser extent, a net positive fluctuation in other income and expenses and lower selling, general and administrative and research and development expenses. Our operating margin in 2017 was approximately break even compared to negative 4.7% in 2016.

The following table sets forth the impact of unallocated items on operating profit:

(1)   Excludes costs related to the acquisition of Alcatel Lucent and related integration, goodwill impairment charges, intangible asset amortization and other purchase price fair value adjustments, restructuring and associated charges and certain other items.

 

Financial income and expenses

Financial income and expenses was a net expense of EUR 537 million in 2017 compared to a net expense of EUR 287 million in 2016, an increase of EUR 250 million, or 87%. The net negative fluctuation in financial income and expenses was primarily due to costs of EUR 220 million related to the offer to purchase the 6.50% notes due January 15, 2028, the 6.45% notes due March 15, 2029, the 6.75% notes due February 4, 2019 and the 5.375% notes due May 15, 2019; losses from foreign exchange fluctuations; a non-recurring interest expense related to a change to uncertain tax positions; and a loss on the sale of financial assets. This was partially offset by a change in the fair value of the financial liability to acquire Nokia Shanghai Bell non-controlling interest and the absence of costs related to the early redemption of Alcatel Lucent high yield bonds, which adversely affected full year 2016.

Refer to —Liquidity and capital resources below.

Loss before tax

Our loss before tax in 2017 was EUR 510 million, a decrease of EUR 859 million compared to a loss of EUR 1 369 million in 2016.

Income tax

Income taxes was a net expense of EUR 927 million in 2017, a change of EUR 1 384 million compared to a net benefit of EUR 457 million in 2016. The change in net income taxes was primarily due to increased profitability, deferred tax expenses of EUR 777 million from re-measurement of deferred tax assets resulting from the tax rate change in the United States, a non-recurring tax expense of EUR 245 million (EUR 439 million tax benefit in 2016) related to the integration of the former Alcatel Lucent and Nokia operating models; as well as income taxes for prior years primarily from to the disposal of the former Alcatel Lucent railway signaling business in 2006 to Thalès. This was partially offset by three factors: lower income taxes due to our regional profit mix in 2017 compared to 2016, lower losses than in 2016 in countries for which we do not recognize deferred tax assets, and a deferred tax benefit from re-measurement of deferred tax assets resulting from the tax rate changes (in countries other than the United States). Refer to Note 13, Income taxes, of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20-F.

On December 22, 2017, the United States passed a comprehensive set of tax reforms into law. The new law, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, includes numerous changes to prior tax law, including a permanent reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Our deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the consolidated income statement in the period in which the law is substantively enacted. We concluded that the United States federal income tax rate reduction caused our United States deferred tax assets and liabilities to be revalued in 2017 and, therefore, recognized an additional tax provision of EUR 777 million related to such revaluation. The new tax law also contains several other changes, in addition to the reduction in the federal corporate tax rate, many of which become effective for tax years beginning in 2018. We have considered the impact all the tax reform provisions will have on us and have made reasonable estimates for certain effects in our December 31, 2017 consolidated financial statements, as appropriate.

Loss attributable to equity holders of the parent and earnings per share

The loss attributable to equity holders of the parent in 2017 was EUR 1 494 million, an increase of EUR 728 million, compared to a loss of EUR 766 million in 2016. The change in profit attributable to equity holders of the parent was primarily due to an income tax expense, compared to an income tax benefit in 2016 and a net negative fluctuation in financial income and expenses. This was partially offset by an operating profit in 2017, compared to an operating loss in 2016.

Our total basic EPS in 2017 decreased to negative EUR 0.26 (basic) and negative EUR 0.26 (diluted) compared to negative EUR 0.13 (basic) and negative EUR 0.13 (diluted) in 2016.

Cost savings program

On April 6, 2016, we launched a new cost savings program, targeting approximately EUR 1 200 million of recurring annual cost savings to be achieved in full year 2018. In 2017, we recognized restructuring and associated charges of approximately EUR 550 million related to the cost savings program.

In 2017, we had restructuring and associated cash outflows of approximately EUR 550 million related to the cost savings program.

Discontinued operations

Discontinued operations include the continuing financial effects of the HERE business and the D&S business. The Group sold its HERE digital mapping and location services business to a German automotive industry consortium comprised of AUDI AG, BMW Group and Daimler AG in a transaction that was completed on December 4, 2015 (the sale of HERE business). The Group sold substantially all of its Devices & Services business to Microsoft in a transaction that was completed on April 25, 2014 (the sale of D&S business).  Refer to Note 7, Discontinued operations, of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20-F.

For the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017

Discontinued operations profit for the year was EUR 214 million compared to a loss of EUR 21 million in 2017. Profit for the year in 2018 mostly related to a resolution reached in the tax dispute concerning the applicability of withholding tax in respect of payments by Nokia India Private Limited to Nokia Corporation for the supply of operating software in D&S business as well as a release of uncertain tax positions related to HERE business. 

For the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to the year ended December 31, 2016

Discontinued operations loss for the year was EUR 21 million compared to a loss of EUR 15 million in 2016.

 

 

 

Networks business

For the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017

The following table sets forth selective line items and the percentage of net sales for the years indicated.

 

Segment information(1)

(1)   Refer to Note 5, Segment information, of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report.

(2)   Net sales include EUR 6 712 million (EUR 6 895 million in 2017) attributable to Mobile Networks and EUR 1 980 million (EUR 2 075 million in 2017) attributable to Fixed Networks.

(3)   Net sales include EUR 2 545 million (EUR 2 694 million in 2017) attributable to IP Routing; EUR 1 606 million (EUR 1 499 million in 2017) attributable to Optical Networks; and EUR 1 568 million (EUR 1 550 million in 2017) attributable to Nokia Software.

The following table sets forth distribution of net sales by geographical area for the years indicated.