Edible Apple

Nokia shares dropped nearly 15% this week after the Finnish handset maker released earnings that, despite increasing from the same quarter a year-ago, failed to meet analyst expectations.

For the first quarter of 2010, Nokia announced earnings of $0.09 a share on revenue of $465 million, a marked increase from the $160 million in revenue it recorded during the first quarter of 2009. But to put things in perspective, Nokia revenue in the first quarter of 2008 came in at an astounding $1.6 billion, representing a 90% drop in profitability from 08′ to ’09. So while Nokia’s books may have seen an uptick over the past year, their overall revenue intake is trending downwards.

Though Nokia sells approximately 4 out every 10 phones sold worldwide, it’s still struggling to gain a foothold in the profitable smartphone sector of the market, where devices like the iPhone reign supreme and rake in a good chunk of the industry’s profits.

In a statement issued earlier this week, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo admitted, “We continue to face tough competition with respect to the high end of our mobile device portfolio, as well as challenging market conditions on the infrastructure side.”

Not helping matters is that Nokia also announced delays for some upcoming high-end smartphones they have in the works, something which they can ill-afford as the popularity of Android-based devices continues to surge.

Apple, in contrast, has been on a tear since it announced stellar earnings earlier this week. Earlier today, Apple’s share price hit an all-time intraday high of $272.18.