Nokia looking to build laptops

Nokia is acting on increasing convergence in the mobile and PC industry

Nokia is " looking very actively" at getting into the laptop market, according to the firm's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

The world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer is looking to exploit the increasing convergence of the mobile and PC industry, Kallasvuo explained in an interview with Finnish television station YLE.

"We do not have to look even for five years from now to see that what we know as a mobile phone and what we know as a PC are in many ways converging," he said.

"Today we have hundreds of millions of people who are having their first internet experience on the phone. This is a good indication."

Kallasvuo did not specify whether the company would produce a full-featured laptop or a slimmed down netbook. Nokia already produces a Wi-Fi internet tablet, the 770, and the new devices could be based on this reference design.

The line between computers and telephony is becoming increasingly blurred. Acer announced at Mobile World Congress earlier this month that it is entering the smartphone market with a host of new Tempo models, while Dell is rumoured to be producing a smartphone aimed at the lucrative business end of the market.