Nokia 2003 Annual Report Download - page 90

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
8.A Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information
8.A.1 See Item 18 for our audited consolidated financial statements.
8.A.2 See Item 18 for our audited consolidated financial statements, which cover the last three
financial years.
8.A.3 See page F-1 for the audit report of our accountants, entitled ‘‘Report of Independent
Auditors.’’
8.A.4 Not applicable.
8.A.5 Not applicable.
8.A.6 See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 18 of this Form 20-F
for the amount of our export sales.
8.A.7 Litigation We are party to routine litigation incidental to the normal conduct of our
business. Our management does not believe that liabilities related to these proceedings, in the
aggregate, are likely to be material to our financial condition or results of operations.
We and several other mobile device manufacturers, distributors and network operators were
named as defendants in a series of class action suits filed in various US jurisdictions. The cases
were consolidated before a US federal district court in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The
actions were brought on behalf of a purported class of persons in the United States as a whole
consisting of all individuals that purchased mobile phones without a headset. In general, the
complaints allege that the defendants should have included a headset with every hand-held
mobile telephone as a means of reducing any potential health risk associated with the telephone’s
use, and assert causes of action based on negligence, fraud and misrepresentation. The relief
sought by the complaint included unspecified amounts of compensation for phone and headset
costs, and attorneys’ fees. All of the cases were dismissed by the Federal Court. That dismissal is
now on appeal.
We have also been named as a defendant along with other mobile device manufacturers and
network operators in five lawsuits by individual plaintiffs who allege that the radio emissions
from mobile phones caused or contributed to each plaintiff’s brain tumor. The cases have been
removed from the courts where they were filed and are now before a US federal district court in
Baltimore, Maryland, United States. In January 2004, one of those cases was dismissed by the
plaintiffs. The remaining cases have been stayed pending the decision of the US Court of Appeal in
the class action appeal matter referenced above.
We believe that the allegations described above are without merit, and intend to defend these
actions vigorously. The courts that have reviewed similar matters to date have found that there is
no reliable scientific basis for the plaintiffs’ claims.
One of our customers in Turkey, Telsim Mobil Telekomuniksyon Hiz. A.S., has defaulted on its
obligations under a financing arrangement secured by us. In accordance with the terms of the
financing documentation, the matter has been submitted to arbitration proceedings in Z ¨ urich,
which we are vigorously pursuing to recover all amounts due to us. In addition, in conjunction
with co-plaintiff Motorola Credit Corporation, we have been successful in a US lawsuit against
individual members of the Uzan family and certain Uzan controlled corporations. The lawsuit
alleges that the defendants violated the US Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
by fraudulently inducing us and Motorola, through a pattern of fraudulent and illegal conduct, to
provide financing to Telsim, which is owned and controlled by the Uzans and their affiliates. In
July 2003, the trial judge held that Nokia was entitled to a USD 1.7 billion judgment, which will be
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