Nokia reported an uptick of 44% in net profit for Q4, exceeding analyst expectations. The top handset maker reported net profit of $2.69 billion, up from $1.86 billion for the same period last year.

The company also estimated that its handset market share climbed a percentage point during the quarter to 40%. The company said it shipped 133.5 million mobile phones in the last quarter of last year.

“Nokia’s excellent fourth quarter contributed to a year of high growth and increased profitability for the company, while our industry-leading product portfolio drove our device business to an estimated 40% market share in the fourth quarter,” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s CEO, in a statement. “At the same time, we again increased our quarterly device margins, allowing Nokia to continue to invest for innovation and growth.”

The company predicted less glowing results for the current quarter, saying it expects a “normal seasonal decline” for the first quarter in 2008. The company also said that the U.S. market only makes up about 5% of its revenue, and that the company’s “exposure to the U.S. economy is low.” Kallasvuo said the he believes “the handset market is strong” across the globe.

In related news, the networking infrastructure partnership between Nokia and Siemens broke even in the fourth quarter, compared to an operating loss of $177 million in the third quarter of 2007. Nokia said it expected the joint venture to see even faster growth than the telecom infrastructure market for the current year.