Nokia reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profits on Thursday, boosted by a one-off patent payment from China's Huawei, but said its network business was set for another year of decline, despite promising North American sales.
The mobile industry, dominated by Huawei, Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson, is weathering a decade-long cycle as demand for fourth-generation equipment falls, while spending on new, mass-market fifth-generation networks is unlikely before 2019 or 2020.
Nokia's fourth-quarter group earnings before interest and taxes rose 7 percent from a year earlier to 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), well above analysts' average forecast of 888 million euros in a Reuters poll.
