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Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, fell 24 per cent in Helsinki trading in the first three months of the year, their biggest drop since the second quarter of 2004, on concern sales growth in developed markets such as Europe will slow.

Overall Nokia stock also dropped 24 per cent this year, and sales growth at Nokia has also been affected by the weak dollar, which lost 15 per cent against the euro in the past year. About half of Nokia's revenue is in dollars or in currencies closely tracking it.

Although the company had a 26 per cent increase in unit shipments last year and revenue was also up 30 per cent in the first quarter, the average price for a Nokia handset has fallen by at least 10 per cent in the same period, particularly in mature markets like Europe and the US.

One bright note for investors seems to be the venture with Siemens AG, which started last year, and whose aim is to save 2 billion euros annually by the end of 2008 by cutting about 15 per cent of the joint ventures workforce.