Stefan Mileschin

Former rubber boot maker and Microsoft chum, Nokia is expected to post another huge loss and report that its cash supply is vanishing faster than a glacier in Nevada.

According to Reuters, the company is betting the farm on next month's Windows 8 smartphone after dumping its Symbian operating system to go for something Microsofty.

Nokia has fallen behind rivals as its partnership with software giant Microsoft has yet to produce much in the way of products.

The company is launching Lumia 820 and 920 phones, which use Microsoft's latest Windows 8 software in time for bonfire night.

If the company has not made a heap of cash by Christmas it could go down the tubes in one of the most speculator failures in history.

Results are expected to be dire. The third quarter has been poor for many top companies in the IT industry and Nokia, without new Lumia phones, has seen a heavy drop in sales of its older models.

The cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street are predicting a loss of 11 euro cents per share, according to the average forecast of 35 analysts. That would be the third quarter of losses in a row which should be eating up Nokia's cash pile.

Analysts said that they are more interested in how chief exec Stephen Elop plans to partner with network operators to make sure the newest Lumia phones can compete with Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy SIII.

If cash has fallen too quickly it could signal Nokia is running out of time. Its cash pile is forecast to fall to €3.4 billion at the end of the third quarter from €4.2 billion three months earlier.

The company has been frantically flogging the family silver. It has sold its Vertu luxury handset unit. It is also considering selling and leasing back its waterfront headquarters in Espoo.

If Nokia's cash position worsens and Lumia sales show little improvement over the coming months, the company may need to change its cunning plan and ask its CEO to clean out his desk.

None of the analysts are thinking that buying Nokia shares is a good idea. You can pick one up for €2.15 which given the amount of intellectual property the company is sitting on is just rubbish.

The Microsoft deal has been the kiss of death to the company. Its shares have fallen by 70 percent since Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shook hands on it.

http://news.techeye.net/mobile/nokia...t-another-loss