Nokia looks to snap up sales with new clamshells

Nokia has vowed to regain lost market share, unveiling a series of clamshell handsets to take on rivals Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung.

Speaking at Nokia Connections 2004 in Helsinki, Matti Alahuhta, executive vice president at Nokia, said that dwindling sales had been a "major disappointment" but that the company has taken steps to stabilise and win back market share.

Alogside the new flip-top handsets, Nokia has showcased a range of 3G and entry-level products set to appear this year.

"We have added some new product programmes and also cut some. We have also improved our marketing and made selective price changes where needed," said Alahuhta.

Juha Putkiranta, senior vice president of imaging and multimedia at Nokia, added: "We need to innovate to maintain our market lead and sometimes we need to copy with pride."

The Finnish manufacturer said that new product designs, and increased presence in growing markets like China, India, Brazil and Russia, will allow the vendor to achieve a subscriber base of two billion by 2007.

The smartphone market is expected to exceed 20 million units globally this year, according to Alahuhta.