Nokia apologizes for embarrassing PR gaffe

The Nokia Lumia 920, equipped with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, is displayed, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in New York. Nokia apologized on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, for a video demonstration that led viewers to believe it had been filmed with Lumia 920 but was in fact made with other equipment. AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN

HELSINKI—Beleaguered telecom giant Nokia apologized on Thursday for a video demonstration that led viewers to believe it had been filmed with its new smartphone but was in fact made with other equipment.

“We apologize for the confusion we created,” Nokia wrote in a blog post entitled “An Apology is Due.”

In the video clip screened Wednesday at a press conference for the launch of Nokia’s new flagship Lumia 920 smartphone, a reflection in a window reveals that the video was not shot using a mobile phone but another type of camera.

“In an effort to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization (which eliminates blurry images and improves pictures shot in low light conditions), we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS,” it said.

“Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only. This was not shot with a Lumia 920. At least, not yet,” the Finnish company added.

Nokia, once the world leader in mobile phones, has been struggling in recent years, losing market share as consumers move to smartphones powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating system.

The company enjoyed more than 40 percent of the global mobile phone market in 2008. It no longer provides its global market share figures, but has reportedly seen the number drop below 20 percent.

The company launched a new strategy a year-and-a-half ago, phasing out its Symbian smartphones in favor of a partnership with Microsoft.

On Wednesday it presented two new Windows-powered phones, the Lumia 820 and 920. While analysts were generally favorable to the phones, most suggested they would have a hard time competing with Apple’s new iPhone 5 due to be launched next week.

The Nokia share price slumped more than 10 percent after Wednesday’s launch, and shed another 3.0 percent in Helsinki on Thursday.

In June, the company announced 10,000 job cuts would be needed on top of the 12,000 layoffs already announced in the past 18 months, and an additional 1.6 billion euros ($2.0 billion) in cost cuts by the end of 2013.