Nokia said in a statement its bottom-line net profit rose by 77% to €342 million (US$400 million) in the period from July to September.

“The uncertainty around the global semiconductor market limits our visibility into Q4 and 2022,” said chief executive, Pekka Lundmark.

“We are working closely not only with our suppliers to ensure component availability, but also with our customers.”

Posting a 2% year-on-year net sales increase to €5.4 billion (US$6.3 billion), the Finnish group reiterated its full year guidance – which it increased in June to a comparable operating margin of 10-12% – and said it now expects to finish the year “towards the upper end” of that bracket.

CEO Lundmark has been credited with turning around the fortunes of the network’s giant, which has been flagging in the race with Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei to dominate the 5G equipment market.

After taking the helm in mid-2020 Lundmark implemented widespread job cuts, with savings funnelled into developing more competitive technology.

The group has also partly benefitted from the misfortunes of rival Ericsson, which saw a its China market share collapse when Beijing retaliated against Sweden banning Huawei from its 5G rollout.