Nokia 2005 Annual Report Download - page 23

lawsuits by individual plaintiffs who allege that radio emissions from mobile phones caused or
contributed to each plaintiff’s brain tumor. Those cases are before the District of Columbia courts.
See ‘‘Item 8.A.7—Litigation’’ for a more detailed discussion of these lawsuits.
Although Nokia products and solutions are designed to meet all relevant safety standards and
recommendations globally, no more than a perceived risk of adverse health effects of mobile
communications devices could adversely affect us through a reduction in sales of mobile devices
or increased difficulty in obtaining sites for base stations, and could have a negative effect on our
reputation and brand value as well as harm our share price.
An unfavorable outcome of litigation could materially impact our business, financial
condition or results of operations.
We are a party to lawsuits in the normal course of our business. Litigation can be expensive,
lengthy and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of complex legal
proceedings are difficult to predict. An unfavorable resolution of a particular lawsuit could have a
material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition.
If we are unable to recruit, retain and develop appropriately skilled employees, our ability to
implement our strategies may be hampered and, consequently, our results of operations may
be materially harmed.
We must continue to recruit, retain and through constant competence training develop
appropriately skilled employees with a comprehensive understanding of our businesses and
technologies. As competition for skilled personnel remains keen, we seek to create a corporate
culture that encourages creativity and continuous learning. We are also continuously developing
our compensation and benefits policies and taking other measures to attract and motivate skilled
personnel. Nevertheless, we have encountered in the past, and may encounter in the future,
shortages of appropriately skilled personnel, which may hamper our ability to implement our
strategies and materially harm our results of operations.
Changes in various types of regulation in countries around the world could have a material
adverse effect on our business.
Our business is subject to direct and indirect regulation in each of the countries in which we, the
companies with which we work or our customers do business. As a result, changes in various
types of regulations applicable to current or new technologies, products or services could affect
our business adversely. For example, it is in our interest that the Federal Communications
Commission maintains a regulatory environment that ensures the continued growth of the
wireless sector in the United States. In addition, changes in regulation affecting the construction of
base stations and other network infrastructure could adversely affect the timing and costs of new
network construction or expansion and the commercial launch and ultimate commercial success of
these networks.
Moreover, the implementation of new technological or legal requirements, such as the
requirement in the United States that all handsets must be able to indicate their physical location,
could impact our products and solutions, manufacturing or distribution processes, and could affect
the timing of product and solution introductions, the cost of our production, products or solutions
as well as their commercial success. Finally, export control, tariffs or other fees or levies imposed
on our products, environmental, product safety and security and other regulations that adversely
affect the export, import, pricing or costs of our products and solutions, as well as new services
related to our products, could adversely affect our net sales and results of operations.
The impact of these changes in regulation could affect our business adversely even though the
specific regulations do not always directly apply to us or our products and solutions.
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