Lumia smartphone sales boost Nokia’s fourth quarter

Nokia reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results, largely in part to surprisingly robust sales of Lumia smartphones during the holidays.

The Finnish phone maker said it sold 4.4 million units of the Lumia line. That was up from 2.9 million in the third quarter.

Nokia, which makes smartphones and regular cellphones, said it sold a total of 86.3 million devices during the quarter, raking in about $5.1 billion.

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The uptick in smartphone sales didn’t come as a complete surprise. Supplies of the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 began to run low as early as late November on AT&T; and Amazon.com’s websites.

But Nokia is being cautious about the holiday results and warned investors not to expect the same type of results in the first quarter of 2013.

“Seasonality and competitive environment are expected to have a negative impact on the first quarter 2013, underlying profitability for devices and services, compared to the fourth quarter 2012,” Nokia said in a statement sent Thursday.

For now, though, the Finnish phone giant is still showing signs of life.

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