Helsinki - Finnish-based Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile telephones, Friday lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter and revised its 2009 estimates for the global handset market.

Nokia said it expected fourth-quarter global handset sales to reach 330 million units, up from 310 million units in the third- quarter.

For full-year 2008, global sales were predicted to be 1.24 billion handsets instead of earlier estimates of 1.26 billion units. In 2007, some 1.14 billion units were sold worldwide, Nokia said.

"The global economic slowdown, combined with unprecedented currency volatility, has resulted in a sharp pull back in global consumer spending," the group said in a statement, noting that the credit crunch has "limited the purchasing ability of some of our trade customers."

Nokia shares dropped some 6 per cent on the news in Helsinki and Stockholm.

Nokia said it expected to keep its current market share in the quarter or increase it slightly. The group recently estimated that its third-quarter share of the global handset market was 38 per cent.

The overall economic downturn would likely mean lower sales in 2009 compared to 2008, the group said.

In addition to recent job cuts at its joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia said it was continuing with other cost-cutting measures such as limiting the use of external contractors and consultants. (dpa)