Nokia CEO 'Paranoid' About iPhone Competition

Nokia CEO Olli Pekka Kallasvuo said he is "paranoid" about Apple's entry into the cell phone market. Kallasvuo made the comments on Thursday during Nokia's earnings conference call.

Even though Apple's goal is to sell 10 million iPhone's by the end of 2008, Nokia said the significance of the iPhone should not be underestimated.

Kallasvuo went on to say that Nokia will spend more on research to combat the threat from Apple and Research in Motion's BlackBerry product line.

Motorola CEO Ed Zander had quite a different approach to Apple's iPhone. In early September Zander said Motorola's strategy was to be "boringly consistent."

Nokia's net profit jumped in the third quarter, as the company made up for the falling average selling price of its phones by shipping more of them, the company said Thursday.

For the three months ending Sept. 30, net profit increased 85 percent over the third quarter of 2006, to ,1.6 billion (US$2.3 billion). Net sales rose 28 percent to ,12.9 billion. Earnings per share rose 90 percent to ,0.40.

The company shipped 112 million units, 26 percent more than in the same period a year before. Nokia estimates it holds a 39 percent share of the mobile market.