HELSINKI (AP) - Cell phone maker Nokia Corp. says its net profit fell 1 percent to 344 million ($499 million) in the first quarter, from 349 million a year earlier.
Sales grew by 9 percent to 10.40 billion from 9.52 billion in the same period in 2010, while smartphone sales were up 6 percent at 7 billion.
CEO Stephen Elop said Thursday that Nokia has now signed a "definitive" deal with Microsoft Corp. to develop software for smarthones "and already our product design and engineering work is well under way."
Nokia is the world's top cell phone maker but faces stiff competition from Blackberry, iPhone and Android phones in the smartphone segment.