To give it some proper perspective.
Without providing details, Nokia said it saw lower average selling prices for both mobile phones and smartphones in the quarter. Smartphone volumes were higher on the year, while unit sales of basic mobile phones fell, Nokia said.
So, Smartphone volume was up. Basic (feature and dumb phones) volume was down. And ASP is down.
ASP being down is expected as volume increases on low end smartphones. Which also happens to affect the entire smartphone market. IDC is forecasting lower ASP across the board for smartphones for 2014. (
http://www.icharts.net/chartchannel/smartphone-average-selling-price-asp-os-usd-2012-2018_m3puyi9fc). Windows Phone has a larger drop than others due in part to the fact that their low end presence isn't as established as the other players. Meaning, even if the price of their phones in each segment doesn't change, their ASP will drop as volume on low end smartphones continue to ramp up.
So, that bit doesn't really affect MS so much as it's the smartphone part of the mobile phone business that they are interested in. The basic and feature phone side of it was what hurt the most. ASP dropping there combined with decreasing volume wasn't good as that was already a well established market for them.
What is more concerning for Microsoft is that while their sales share (YoY) continues to rise in most parts of the world (Europe, African, S.America, and Asia Pacific), they have stalled in the US with slight regression and have completely failed to catch on in the Chinese market. (
http://macdailynews.com/2014/04/28/...one-market-share-in-q1-windows-phone-falters/) Although, I have also seen reports that their share has been flat (Comscore) or increased in the US.
Gartner's report won't be out until next month. That should shed more light on the global situation.
Also what is extremely interesting is that Microsoft is now selling and actively developing an Android line of Nokia phones. The first being the Nokia X. Android OS with a WP like UI combined with Microsoft services. (
http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/29/nokia-x-review/ )
Just in case that hasn't sunk in. Microsoft is using Android for some of their phones.
Regards,
SB