Nokia Windows Phone 7 Debut In 6 European Countries By The End Of 2011

  

The company's Europe vice president Victor Saeijs said Windows Phone 7 handsets will debut in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.K. The long-awaited news comes after Nokia and Microsoft inked signed a partnership deal earlier this spring, allowing the handset maker to produce smartphones running Windows Phone OS.
Nokia and Microsoft both have a lot at stake with a Nokia Windows Phone release. Nokia has fallen on difficult times lately, witnessing declining profits and market share. The Finnish company tried to stem the losses by cutting the cord on its outdated Symbian software, but may not have acted quickly enough, and its slow pace in embracing the importance of app-centric, touchscreen devices have left it out in the cold.
Analysts are predicting Nokia, which now controls 24 percent of the smartphone market, will relinquish its crown as top global handset maker, a title held since 1996, to Samsung and Apple.