Nokia to roll out Windows Phone 8 handsets next month - report

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nokia will reportedly announce its new Windows Phone 8-based handsets next month as the struggling Finnish mobile phone giant seeks to recapture its 'cool' with customers, Digital Spy said.

Last year, Nokia released the first handsets in its Lumia line, running Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system.

The next generation of the OS, Windows Phone 8, will be released later this year and various manufacturers have already confirmed plans to offer handsets, including Huawei and HTC.

Nokia has so far been quiet on its plans, but Bloomberg cites unnamed sources as saying that its new Windows Phone 8 range will arrive at the Nokia World event on September 5 and 6 in Helsinki, Finland.

The insiders say that Nokia wants to unveil the phones before Apple's expected announcement of the new iPhone on September 12, and then start sales before the Christmas rush.

But Nokia faces huge challenges as it attempts to compete with rivals and revive its flagging fortunes.

According to the latest data, Nokia was the third-biggest player in the worldwide smartphone market over the three months to June 30, with a 10.2% share putting it ahead of HTC's 8.8% and ZTE's 5.2%.

However, the once-dominant Nokia lags far behind Samsung and Apple, who lead the global market with a 50.2% and 26% share respectively.