Matti Huuhtanen, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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HELSINKI, Finland - Nokia Corp., the world's largest cellphone maker, lost market share in the third quarter as profits dropped 30 per cent because of falling sales and lower prices on the handsets that did sell.

Even so, Nokia said Thursday it expects increasing sales for the rest of the year, and it stuck to its 10 per cent growth estimate for the whole industry in 2008.

Net profit in July through September plummeted to 1.09 billion euros (US$2.7 billion), from 1.56 billion euros a year earlier. Net sales dropped five per cent to 12.2 billion euros ($16.6 billion), from 12.9 billion euros.

Nokia shares fell after the report but the stock rallied and was almost unchanged in late trading in Helsinki. Nokia's U.S. shares rose $1.46, or 9.7 per cent, to $16.57.

Nokia said its market share in the period fell to 38 per cent - down from 39 per cent in 2007 and 40 per cent in the previous quarter. It sold nearly 118 million handsets, up from 112 million during the same period last year.

Last month, Nokia had warned that its market share would drop because of price cuts by competitors, but said it would not change its strategy.

"We said we would not participate in the aggressive pricing competition in the third quarter and I believe that the decision was correct and will repay us in the long run," Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.

As Nokia continues to sell an increasing proportion of cheaper phones in emerging markets, the average selling price of its handsets - a much-watched indicator in the industry - also is on a downward curve. In the last quarter, the average selling price was 72 euros ($98), down from 82 euros in the third quarter last year.

Despite the global financial meltdown, Nokia said it expects sales to increase in the final quarter, with a possible slight gain in market share. It gave no figures.

Nokia repeated its estimate that the overall industry will grow 10 per cent in 2008, reaching 1.26 billion cell phones sold by the end of the year.

Michael Schroeder, an analyst at FIM Bank, said the report was a mix of good and bad news.

"Nokia still sees a growth in full-year mobile phone sales ... so there's really no halt in the trade there," Schroeder said. "But its market share expectations of flat or slightly up is a disappointment."

Nokia said it would continue to focus on providing Internet services for its mobile customers, including music, navigation services and games on handsets. this month it launched Comes With Music, which provides millions of tracks from leading artists for download onto Nokia handsets, and introduced its first touch-screen phone in years, the 5800, in a challenge to rivals such as Apple's iPhone.

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On the Net:

http://www.nokia.com.