Nokia expects the mobile phone industry to weather any global economic slowdown considering the devices have become such a part of people’s lives, the company’s finance chief said Thursday.

Nokia, the world’s top cell phone maker, saw its shares rise 8 percent Thursday after posting better-than expected results for the second quarter and upgrading its forecast for the global handset market.

“With half a year visibility, we’re able to say growth will be 10 percent or more,” Nokia’s Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson told The Associated Press.

The Espoo, Finland-based company had previously forecast volume growth of 10 percent for the mobile phone market.

Nokia’s share price had plunged about 40 percent that year amid concerns the mobile industry would suffer as the credit crunch and inflation take their toll on economic growth and consumers’ spending capability. However, Simonson said demand for cell phones will remain high even as consumers face fit choices on how to spend their income.

“One of the highest priorities is to use their usable income to insure that they have communications,” he said in a phone interview.

“Everybody’s affected by the economic reality that we’re aware of — Nokia and its customers are no different,” he added. “But we have an ability to play all markets. Some markets are growing strongly, some not so strongly but we aren’t trapped to one market only. That’s the beauty of it.”

Nokia’s net profit dropped 61 percent in the second quarter to EU1.10 billion (US$1.75 billion), down from EU2.82 billion in the same period or 2007. Sales rose 4 percent to EU13.2 billion (US$21.0 billion).

The drop in profit reflected a EU1.88 billion gain in the year-ago quarter from the formation of Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture with Germany’s Siemens AG.

Excluding special items, Nokia said its profit rose 8 percent to EU1.37 billion (US$2.18 billion).

The…

Original post by Top Tech News