Nokia expects handset prices to continue to fall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, expects industry average selling prices (ASPs) for handsets to continue to fall, chief financial officer Rick Simonson said on Wednesday.

Nokia and its biggest rival Motorola have seen pressure on mobile phone prices as most of growth comes from selling cheaper phones in emerging markets.

"Yes, ASPs have declined over the last few quarters. We expect that to continue," Simonson said at a Bank of America technology conference in New York.

"For the year we see the industry having some ASP decline," he said.

Nokia said last month the average selling price of its phones fell to about US$117 (89 euros) in the fourth quarter, compared with 99 euros in the year-ago period.

But while Motorola had cited lower phone prices for its weak fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, Simonson implied that that was a company-specific problem because he said Nokia's prices were better than expected in the quarter.

"The pricing dynamic was probably a little more robust than we might have expected," Simonson said.