In an attempt to arrest its declining market share, Nokia will use September's Nokia World conference to unveil its first touchscreen Google Android mobile phone.
According to a report in the Guardian, analysts at HSBC measured Nokia's global smartphone market share at 47 percent in 2007; that was down to 35 percent in the summer of 2008, and 31 percent at the end of 2009. Although the phone maker still builds around four out of every 10 mobile phones sold, its market share has been hit hard by mobile internet devices such as the Apple iPhone 3GS and RIM (BlackBerry) handsets.
The smartphone segment is the only part of the mobile phone market which is growing during the current global recession, making it a crucial battle ground for phone makers.
Previously Nokia has attempted to make its own Symbian platform a rival to Google Android and the Apple iPhone OS, but by opting to use the open-source Android platform Nokia is changing this policy. Symbian is now available free of charge to all manufacturers, but the iPhone and Android platforms continue to grow apace.
Nokia was unavailable for comment.