Nokia reported a near-doubling of third-quarter profit and a larger share of the global handset market as it benefited from strong sales in areas like India and China, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said the world's largest mobile phone maker's net profit came to 1.56 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in July to September, up 85% from 845 million euros a year earlier.
Sales rose 28% to 12.89 billion euros ($18.3 billion) from 10.1 billion euros, beating most market expectations.
Nokia's handset division showed an increase of 3% in revenue, with a global market share of 39%, up from 36% in the same quarter in 2006 and near the company's long-stated goal of 40%, the report said.
Although the average selling price, or ASP, of its devices dropped to 82 euros ($116) in the quarter, from 93 euroe ($132) in 2006, analysts said it wasn't as great as expected, and Nokia managed to improve the profit margin to more than 22% from 13% a year earlier, the report said.
Analysts had expected smaller profit margins, it added.
Nokia cited strong sales in burgeoning, high-volume markets such as India and China, along with rising demand for its feature-laden multimedia phones, some of which boast wireless connectivity, powerful cameras and direct uploading of video to the Internet, the Associated Press report said.