Business Notes

HELSINKI, FINLAND— Mobile phone maker Nokia expects first quarter net sales to be slightly below earlier guidance of a 6 percent to 10 percent year-on-year decline. However, mobile phone sales in the first quarter are expected to be within the previously stated range of a decrease of 3 percent to 7 percent year over year. Nokia's predictions follow on the heels of Ericsson's announcement of an expected 7 percent decrease in phone sales year over year. Nokia blamed an expected 25 percent drop in mobile network equipment for its overall lowered sales forecast. The company said it may exceed its first quarter profit target.

PARIS — Thomson Multimedia has acquired Camarillo, Calif.-based Still in Motion, a privately held DVD compression and authoring full-service bureau. The company, which has annual sales of about $10 million, will join Thomson's Technicolor division, where it can provide DVD compression and authoring, regionalization, graphics and menu design capabilities to Technicolor's digital post-production services offering — thus extending Technicolor's reach in the digital media value chain. Technicolor focuses on giving content providers, broadcasters, network operators and advertisers the digital building blocks required for deploying electronic entertainment services.

SAN FRANCISCO— Higher-end specialty retailer Good Guys has sold $5.6 million of its common stock through a private placement, with net proceeds from the offering hitting about $5.1 million. Good Guys said it plans to use the funds for such initiatives as retirement of expensive operating leases; remodeling several older, high-profit stores; accelerating lease terminations at one or more of the unprofitable units it is in the process of closing; and further improving store operations. The sale is part of the retailer's concrete plan to return to profitability as it enters fiscal 2003.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.— Handheld computing maker Handspring has made a public offering of 7 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $5.50 per share. The company intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures and investments, and may also use a portion of the net to fund acquisitions of complementary businesses, products or technologies or to make strategic investments. In addition Qualcomm has separately agreed to make an investment of $10 million in Handspring. The company will purchase 1.8 million shares of Handspring's common stock directly from Handspring.

FREMONT, CALIF. — Logitech has a new stock-symbol listing on Nasdaq, changing it to LOGI from LOGIY. The peripherals maker of Internet video cameras, mice and trackballs, keyboards, audio and telephony products, gaming devices and 3D controllers, is a U.S. subsidiary of Logitech International, a Swiss public company.