Nokia shares slump to lowest price since 1996

Firm's halcyon days a dim and distant memory

Faith in mobile phone stalwart Nokia appears to be crumbling as the firm's share prices slumped to its lowest price since 1996.

On Friday, the price for shares in the firm ended trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $1.92, a price last seen for the firm's shares on 4 April, 1996. That gives the firm a market capitalisation of just $7.1bn.

In its heyday, the firm's stock price had soared to a price of $58.50 in 2000 as it ruled the mobile market.

Since then, though, the share price has slowly dwindled as competition from Apple and a slew of Android devices have made its Symbian smartphones outdated, with the firm slow to react to these changes.

The firm attempted to rectify this by partnering with Microsoft on its Windows Phone platform, although sales of its Lumia devices have failed to excite, despite consistently favourable reviews.

Chief executive Stephen Elop has made swingeing cuts at the firm since taking control, with a further 10,000 lay-offs announced last month as well as the closure of more factories, in an effort to streamline the firm and save costs.

Nokia received another blow last month when Microsoft confirmed its Windows Phone 8 platform would not be compatible with existing Windows Phone devices, cutting Lumia devices off from future versions of the system.

The firm is set to release figures for its second quarter earnings on 19 July which should provide yet more insight into the scale of the problems facing the Finnish firm.