Nokia has published its Q3 results, reporting a 20% drop in sales and a significant net loss.

Global mobile phone company Nokia has published its third quarter results, showing a significant net loss after a drop in sales figures.

Nokia posted a net loss of €913 million (£838m) for the period between July and September; a huge drop compared with the €1.1 billion profit made in the same quarter last year.

The net loss includes a €903 write-off for the drop in value of its Nokia Siemens Networks department.

Nokia has struggled to compete against smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and the Blackberry.

Nokia’s net sales also fell by 20% over the quarter to €9.8bn, compared with €12.2bn same time last year.

Despite the disappointing results, Nokia expects the industry mobile device volumes in the fourth quarter of 2009 to increase. However, it also stated that it predicts industry mobile device volumes to fall by approximately 7%.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO, said: “Our volumes and net sales were […] somewhat constrained by component shortages we encountered across the portfolio.

“The challenging competitive factors and market conditions in the infrastructure and related services business necessitated non-cash impairment charges at Nokia Siemens Networks.”