Nokia forecasts healthy handset sales

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Nokia - presently at the centre of claims that it still has problems with the supply of GPRS handsets - has revealed some good news. The Finnish company has announced it is maintaining good margins on the sale of mobile phones - an area where it commands over a third of the world market - and that it will meet its third quarter profit target. The news propelled Nokia shares 10 per cent higher yesterday, but they later fell following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Competitors such as Ericsson and Motorola have recently complained about the health of the mobile handset market, against a backdrop of saturation of usage in many countries, and uncertainty over the roll-out of new standards. Despite the positive news, Nokia said overall revenues for its current quarter will fall due to weak sales in its network equipment business.