Nokia remains bullish despite Q1 2013 losses reaching €150 million and a net sales decline of -20% Y-o-Y-- the Financial Times reports the company plans a number of "flagship launches" for 2013, including a take on oversized smartphones/phablets. 

But such losses are actually profits, Nokia claims. It depends on how one counts the numbers! You see, the €150m loss results if you use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Jiggle the numbers without sticking to the rules and Q1 2013 becomes a success with operating profits worth €180m. 

Mind, whichever way you count Nokia still sees improvement over the $1.3 billion (IFRS) Q1 2012 losses. It also sees short-term Lumia device volume growth (27% Q-o-Q) even if net mobile phone sales drop by -31% Y-o-Y to €1.6bn, with shipments reaching 55.8m units due to "competitive industry dynamics." 

As one expects, the launches the FT mentions are part of an effort to revitalise flagging market share. The future Nokia devices will (obviously) run on Windows Phone and include the first Pureview-equipped Lumia smartphone (with a 40MP camera set for a July 2013) as well as "lighter and more advanced" and "lower priced" versions of the flagship Lumia 920.. 

Meanwhile the phablet should be similar in size (if with more advanced innards) to the Samsung Galaxy Note.

Go Nokia Q1 2013 Interim Report

Go Nokia Plans "Phablet" in New Handset Range (FT.com, registration required)

The wearables market still be pie in the sky for now, but that is not stopping vendors-- The Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft is also working on "designs for a touch-enabled watch device."

According to anonymous executives Microsoft is shipping smartwatch components while R&D staff talk designs with suppliers at the company's Redmond, Washington HQ.

Microsoft, perhaps obviously, declines to comment.

The news story makes Microsoft the 5th big vendor to take on wearables-- once the "Apple making a smartwatch" rumours started flying similar stories involving Samsung, Google and LG soon followed.

So far only Samsung confirms its intentions, via Bloomberg interview with mobile business VP Lee Young Hee. Lee says "we've been preparing [a] watch product for so long... We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

Hon Hai (aka Foxconn Technology) sees Q1 2013 sales drop by -19% Y-o-Y to $29.96 billion Reuters reports, as declining iPhone sales hurt the Taiwanese device manufacturer even after 2012 was a record year for the company.

Around 60-70% of Hon Hai revenues come from iPhone and iPad manufacture-- and if Apple sales are down, the device manufacturer depending on it follows suit.

"A quarterly decline was expected, but not a yearly decline," KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo says. "This shows that Hon Hai's revenue depends too much on Apple, and iPhone orders corrected more than expected."

The analyst forecasts flat Q2 203 sales for Hon Hai before the company meets further profit pressures during H2 2013.

Go Hon Hai Q1 Sales Down as iPhone Disappoints

HTC posts its lowest quarterly profits yet-- HTC One launch delays cause Q1 2013 net income to drop by -98% Y-o-Y to $2.8 million, down from $173m in Q1 2012.

Meanwhile revenues fall by -37% to $1.14 billion according to Bloomberg estimates.

The chief reason for such dramatic losses are camera component shortages, causing the the HTC One to miss its March 2013 global launch date. Analysts predict limited chances for profits to rebound in Q2 2013, since the flagship handset will be available less than a month before the Samsung Galaxy S4.

“For smartphones, timing is everything and the delay means they lose that timing,” Yuanta Securities remarks.

Now HTC puts its hope on the HTC First-- the first smartphone to feature Facebook's "Home" app, also set to be available by April 2013. Will the power of social networking bring the Taiwanese mobile maker back on its feet?

Go HTC Releases Unaudited Q1 2013 Results

Go HTC Posts Record-Low Profit (Bloomberg)