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Nokia,the world’s largest mobile phone maker, said that over the first nine months of the year it had sold 23 million handsets in China, an increase of 77 percent compared to the same period a year ago. "For the combined Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, we now have an estimated device market share of well over 30%," Nokia chief executive Jorma Ollila said in a speech in Beijing, published on the company website. During the first three quarters of 2005, the Finnish company made 3.3 billion dollars (2.7 billion euros) in sales in China, while its exports from the Asian country ticked in at 2.3 billion dollars. "China currently has 380 million mobile subscribers. We believe that by 2010, China will have added another 250 million mobile subscribers, making it the single largest mobile market in the world," Ollila said. China, with its 1.3 billion inhabitants and with 60 percent of its telecommunications already mobile, holds the promise of massive future growth for operators and phone makers. The number of mobile phone subscribers in the country is expected to reach 520 million in 2008 and 600 million two years later, according to predictions presented at an industrial forum in Shanghai at the beginning of November. The harsh competition between foreign and local players for Chinese mobile phone customers is thus expected to become starker in years to come. This year, Nokia, Motorola and Samsung together hold about 40 percent of the Chinese market share, far below their combined global level of nearly 63 percent, according to US analyst firm Gartner. At the end of September, Nokia reported that its global mobile phone market share had reached 33 percent. The Finnish giant currently employs some 6,000 people in China, accounting for just over 10 percent of its total worldwide staff. Going forward, Nokia said it would continue to increase its research and development activities and its investments in China. "With the expected launch of 3G (third generation) services, we believe China will enter a new era of mobility and will play a significant role in the global market," Ollila said. (() | 
