Nokia sold 5.6 million Lumia phones in the March quarter, a 27% increase from the previous quarter and a new record high, the company revealed in its earnings report Thursday.
Lumia sales were slow to start in 2011, but have accelerated in recent quarters. Nokia sold two million Lumia phones in the same quarter a year ago and 4.4 million Lumias in the December quarter. The company has sold just under 20 million Lumias in total as of the end of March.
"People are responding positively to the Lumia portfolio, and our volumes are increasing quarter over quarter," Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement. However, the success of Lumia wasn't enough to offset the underlying weakness in Nokia's handset business. The company's mobile phone shipments declined by 30% quarter-over-quarter to 55.8 million units. As a result, Nokia's sales fell to $7.6 billion in the quarter, its lowest quarterly revenue in more than a decade.
"Our Mobile Phones business faces a difficult competitive environment, and we are taking tactical actions and bringing new innovation to market to address our challenges," Elop said.
Nokia's stock plummeted more than 10% in early morning trading following the earnings release.