TOKYO, Oct 30 - Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd posted a 3 percent gain in quarterly operating profit on strong sales of digital cameras and flat TVs, but kept unchanged an annual outlook that falls short of market expectations.

Matsushita has joined rivals Sony Corp and Canon Inc in tapping brisk global demand for digital cameras while also profiting from growth in the flat TV market as consumers continue to trade in their boxy tube sets for thin screens.

The company, which ranks as the world's largest maker of consumer electronics by sales, said the profit gain was also thanks to cost-cutting as it moved to offset soaring price of crude oil and other raw materials.

Citing the oil price and uncertainty over the course of the U.S. economy, Matsushita left its operating profit forecast for the full year to March unchanged at 477 billion yen, slightly below a consensus of 479.9 billion yen in a poll of 16 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Matsushita, the No. 1 plasma TV maker ahead of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc, this year launched the world's first 42-inch plasma TVs with full high-definition panels, aiming to tap consumer demand for higher-resolution images.

Full high-definition plasma TVs with 50-inch or larger panels are widely available, but it is technologically difficult and often costly to pack this technology into smaller models.

In its LCD TV business, Matsushita in September launched a 37-inch model, relaxing its long-standing policy of covering demand for 37-inch and larger flat TVs with plasma models, in an effort to reach a wider range of customers.

Operating profit at Matsushita came to 146.1 billion yen in July-September, compared with 142.27 billion yen a year earlier.

The result was above a consensus of 135.4 billion yen in a survey of three analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Net profit fell 17 percent to 65.8 billion yen on sales of 2.29 trillion yen, up 1.5 percent.

Prior to the earnings announcement, shares in Matsushita closed up 1.4 percent at 2,110 yen, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC, which fell 0.7 percent.

Matsushita's stock fell 12.4 percent in the year to Monday, while the sub-index lost 3.8 percent. ($1=114.49 Yen)