The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales and profits today, but its market volume forecast soothed the worst fears of the impact of the global financial crisis.
The Finnish group reported third-quarter earnings per share of €0.29, down from €0.40 a year ago, missing the average forecast of €0.31, but said it expected industry volumes to rise 10.5 per cent to 1.26 billion phones in 2008, slightly above market consensus.
Having reported volume sales growth in excess of 20 per cent for several quarters, this time Nokia managed only a rise of 5 per cent to 117.8 million phones, missing analysts' average forecast, as sales fell in Europe and North America.
"The (financial) crisis ... is of course a reality that has added uncertainty and definitely can be seen in the third-quarter numbers as well," Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told CNBC television.
Handset makers have already started to feel the pinch from slowing economies, but booming demand from emerging markets has so far balanced out falling sales in Western Europe.
"I think people are breathing a sigh of relief that the phone market isn't going completely to pieces now in the fourth quarter," said Hakan Wranne, analyst with Swedbank.
Shares in Nokia were down 2.2 per cent at €11.53 earlier, giving up brief gains and underperforming the DJ Stoxx European technology shares index, which was down 1.4 per cent.