Nokia profit reaches 85% growth in Q3

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), the world's largest manufacturer of wireless handsets, saw a very admirable rise in Q3 profit levels -- to the tune of 85% growth -- on the backs of increasing awareness and sales in emerging markets. Nokia, which has about 39% share of the global cellphone market at this time, also explained that it expected this level to remain throughout the Q4 period.

Years ago, the word was that Nokia had lost some edge and that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and South Korean stalwart Samsung Electronics would eat handily into Nokia's market share. That has not happened, as Samsung has still been growing, and Motorola's product lineup has completely stagnated until just recently. Nokia went on the offensive at the end of 2005 with higher-end smartphones, decent mid-level phones and an attack into the entry-level, emerging market and has not looked back since.

Nokia's Q3 net income beat analyst estimates as well, coming in at €1.56 billion ($2.21 billion), or 40 eurocents per share. Nokia executives explained the growth as coming from new, lucrative multimedia handsets in addition to growing sales in emerging markets. One gray cloud over the company for Q3 was from its mobile networks joint venture with Germany's Siemens AG. As what seems always to happen, handset sales are the growth engine, while infrastructure and related equipment take a back seat. In Q3, that seat was at the very rear of the bus for Nokia.