Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Pekka Lundmark: Okay. I mean, obviously, monetizing the data traffic is a highly significant question for operators. And through that, also for us. And it is fair to say that operators have not been particularly good in monetizing the data traffic growth in the past. And now, of course, there are new tools available like 5G slicing and different types of industrial applications. We certainly hope and we work with operators to help them to monitor it better this time. But then there is another angle to this question, too which actually does not have that much to do with the monetization itself. If simply the data traffic continues to grow, operators, if they want to stay in the business, they will have to continue to invest. And this is the reason why we believe that this slowdown in investments in some parts of the world, especially in North America, has to be primarily a question of timing because if one particular operator would not continue to invest, their competitors would.

And this is a highly relevant question, both in Mobile Networks and also in Fixed Access. Now in North America, especially when the new funding is available for the broadband for all programs, there will be even more competition between operators who are scrambling to offer new services as quickly as possible once the funding gradually gets available. So the monetization question is a relevant one but we believe that investments will be driven by the growing data traffic even in the case which would be unfortunate where operators would not be able to significantly better monetize the growth in the future.

David Mulholland: Do you have a follow up?

Francois Bouvignies: Yes. Very clear, Pekka. And the second one is on the 25% of 5G deployed on the mid-band, again, very consistent with what your competitors are saying. Now you have this interesting chart about the penetration by regions and North America seems to be more than 50%. So we would assume that most of the deployment would be from — excluding North America, India, Middle East, Africa, Latin America which, as we see this year, is the mix seems to be negative on the margin side, the ex North America. So does it mean that from a mix perspective, as we look going forward, this negative mix should continue in the medium term as the growth is coming from other than North America?

Pekka Lundmark: Well, if you assume that the end result would be that every market would be at x percent, of course, this will not go to 100% but it will go much higher compared to where it is today. Of course, if the end result would be the same everywhere, then your conclusion would be correct. But we are suggesting that even the North American market is far from complete. So that’s why we are expecting a recovery also in that market, at the same time, when the deployment will continue in other parts of the world.

David Mulholland: We will take our — from Sébastien Sztabowicz from Kepler Cheuvreux.

Sébastien Sztabowicz: What are the assumptions behind your guidance for 2023? And notably on the margin front, do you assume to resign the licensed Chinese smartphone OEM that you have there to reach your margin guidance for this year? And could you please make an update on your litigation today with OPPO and Vivo, where you are standing? And the second question is on the pricing condition. On the pricing, do you see any change in pricing dynamics now that the market is getting a little bit weaker? Or you still see roughly stable pricing condition?