Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, reported on Oct. 16 a 30% drop in third-quarter net profit to 1.087 billion euros (US$1.046 billion), amid falling sales and lower prices for its handsets.
For the July-September period, the mobile phone goliath reported net sales of 12.24 billion euros, a 5% decline from the 12.90 billion it posted a year earlier.
As it announced last month, Nokia also reported that its market share was shrinking, ticking in at just 38% in the third quarter from 40% in the previous three-month period and from 39% in the third quarter of 2007.
The Finnish company's growth forecasts for the global mobile phone market remained in line with its expectations of a more than 10% increase on a 12-month basis, saying it expected total device sales to stand at 1.26 billion units this year from 1.14 billion in 2007.
"With our scale, brand, improving product portfolio and low cost structure, we believe Nokia is well positioned for the current times," Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
