Nokia sold 133.5 million phones in its fourth quarter

The Finnish firm said net profits rose 44% to 1.8bn euros ($2.6bn, �1.3bn) in the final three months of 2007.

It sold 133 million mobile phones during the quarter, more than its three closest rivals combined.

Nokia's market share rose to 40% as it continued to win business from rival Motorola, which is fighting to improve the performance of its phone unit.

Gloomy rival

Analysts were impressed by Nokia's performance and shares were up 12% after the announcement.

"Their phones are a little bit cheaper, very much tilted towards emerging markets. Basically, they're taking market share from Motorola due to greater volume," said Greger Johansson, an analyst at Redeye.

The average price of Nokia's mobile phones rose by one euro to 83 euros and its profit margin hit 23.8%, a much higher margin than its rivals.

On Wednesday, Motorola announced that its first-quarter sales fell 38% and the chief executive was gloomy about the outlook.