Nokia ships beastly number of phones in third quarter

And still the people scream for more

By Team Register • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 20th October 2005 12:59 GMT

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Nokia jacked up its estimate of the likely size of the world mobile market this year, as it revealed third quarter numbers which show it taking a third of the market overall.

Total revenues in the quarter ending September 30 were €8.4bn, up 18 per cent on the year. Net profits came in at €881m, up 29 per cent on the year.

Mobile phones still accounted for the vast bulk of the Finnish firm’s sales, bringing in €5.2bn, up 15 per cent on the year, and generating €880m of operating profit.

Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO, said in a statement that overall industry growth in the third quarter “continued to exceed our expectations”, hitting 199 million units.

Nokia accounted for 66.6 million of those units, a significant number in so many ways. Ollila expects the market to hit 780 million units for the full year, compared to its previous estimate of 760 million. Nokia expects to exceed the industry’s average growth rate.

The company would presumably be even happier if this growth wasn't concentrated in developing markets, which tend to opt for cheaper devices. Unsurprisingly, Nokia expects average selling prices to decline sequentially in the fourth quarter.®

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