Nokia Shipped 127 Million Units In Q4 2009, Profits Soared 65%

Nokia, still the world’s top mobile phone maker, reported a stronger-than-expected 65% rise in fourth-quarter net profit this morning. The Espoo, Finland-based company reported net profit of €948 million for the quarter or 26 eurocents a share, up from €576 million a year ago.

What caught our eye was the volume of devices the company shipped in Q4 2009: the total mobile device volumes of Devices & Services were 126.9 million units, representing an increase of 12% year on year.

The overall industry mobile device volumes for the same period were 329 million units (based on Nokia’s estimate), representing an increase of 8% year on year.

Broken down by region, Nokia shipped most of these phones and mobile computers to Europe and Asia-Pacific (68% of the total units shipped, combined). North America only accounted for 3.8 million units, while emerging markets like Middle East & Africa bought 24.3 million units.

Nokia estimates that its mobile device market share for the fourth quarter 2009 was 39%, compared with 37% in the fourth quarter 2008. The company says the increase was driven by higher market share in all regions with the exception of the United States and Canada, where market share remained flat.

Nokia shares are up a solid 12% in pre-market trading.