Nokia announced today that sales of its flagship Lumia range during its third quarter are down 19% from the same period last year. In real terms, the company shifted 2.9 million phones compared to 4 million in 2011.

The latest figures make for disappointing reading, especially considering Nokia was the biggest manufacturer of phones in the world for more than a decade. But the Finnish firm continues to lag behind the likes of Apple and Samsung in the innovation (and marketing) department.

But hold on just a second, there could be light at the end of the tunnel. Shares in Nokia increased in value by 9 percent following the announcement thanks to better-than-expected results and a licensing agreement struck with Amazon.

Nokia and Amazon agreed a deal in back August to bring Nokia Maps exclusively to the Kindle family of tablets.

Part of the reason for Nokia's ropey financial performance this year is the announcement that Microsoft would not update existing WP7 Lumias to Windows Phone 8.

Nokia chief Stephen Elop stated the slow down in the second half of the quarter was due to users holding out for the WP8-toting Lumia 920 and 820 handsets arriving from early November.

The Finnish company continues to ship feature phones and posted Q3 sales of 76.6 million units - up four per cent quarter-on-quarter. But again - that total is still down 15 percent year-on-year.

Back in smartphone land, Microsoft is due to announce Windows Phone 8 on October 29^th where they are expected to openly demonstrate the new Nokia Lumia smartphones amongst their other device manufacturers.