Nokia Corp., the world's largest cell phone maker, lost market share in the third quarter as profits dropped 30 percent because of falling sales and lower prices on the handsets.

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

Net profit in July through September plummeted to 1.09 billion euros ($2.7 billion), from 1.56 billion euros a year earlier. Net sales dropped 5 percent to 12.2 billion euros ($16.6 billion), from 12.9 billion euros.

Nokia said its market share in the period fell to 38 percent, down from 39 percent in 2007 and 40 percent 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.