There have been multiple profit warnings and earnings shortfalls from Nokia over the past two years. So the ailing Finnish handset maker’s desire to rush out some good news yesterday was just about understandable – even if this resolves few of the fundamental questions that surround the group. Two weeks ahead of its formal full-year earnings release, Nokia revealed that its core devices and services division made an underlying profit in the fourth quarter. The non-IFRS profit margin there is likely to be between break-even and 2 per cent, it said, with smartphone sales reaching €1.2bn in the final three months of 2012. Those sales included 4.4m Windows-based Lumia products.

This is certainly progress. In the third quarter, smartphone sales were under €1bn, with less than 3m Lumia products shipped. That said, sales of Lumia products were always expected to build pre-Christmas and the 4.4m figure is not substantially ahead of market forecasts: anything from 4m-6m had been predicted. It is also only a tiny proportion of global smartphone volumes, which are estimated to have topped 200m units in the final three months of 2012. In short, nothing in yesterday’s announcement will change anyone’s view on whether Nokia/Microsoft can carve out a meaningful position in this fast-evolving market and provide serious competition to the dominant Apple and Android-based products.

The earnings situation is a relief given previous fourth-quarter guidance of a negative 6 per cent operating margin in the devices division and Nokia’s dwindling cash buffer (a net €3.6bn in September). This seems to reflect faster cost-cutting, although also €50m of non-recurring intellectual property income. Sadly, though, Nokia warns that margins may turn negative again in the seasonally-weak current quarter. Its shares closed 10.8 per cent up but the jury should stay out.