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Nokia NYSE:NOK Aims at BlackBerry NASDAQ:BBRY

AAPL, MSFT, GOOG, SSNLF

A leading Smartphone maker Nokia fails to gain much headway on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., the Finnish company is setting its sights on a weaker rival, BlackBerry.

Nokia is betting its partnership with corporate-computing giant Microsoft Corp. NASDAQ:MSFT will help it win business users, targeting BlackBerry’s stronghold. Nokia’s newest Lumia smartphones, including 2 introduced this week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, run on Microsoft’s operating system and come with Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

Gaining a foothold in the business market is crucial for Nokia as it and BlackBerry fight for 3rd place in smartphones, behind Samsung, PINK:SSNLF, the leader in devices using Google Inc. NASDAQ:GOOG’s Android, and Apple. Shares of both Nokia and BlackBerry have lost 90% in the past 5 yrs as 1st consumers and then companies have turned to Android and Apple’s iOS.

BlackBerry pioneered the corporate mobile-device market in North America and has a strong following in Washington and on Wall Street.

Nokia, the biggest seller of Windows handsets, may appeal to information-technology chiefs seeking easy synchronization between smartphones and company computers, which most often use Microsoft’s operating system.

With mobile devices evolving rapidly and the market growing, Nokia can win new customers as business users consider changing providers, according to Chris Weber, the company’s global sales chief.

“We need to keep pushing,” Mr. Weber said over coffee at Nokia’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland. “It’s a good opportunity now with people and companies trying to decide which way to go.”

Simply defeating BlackBerry may not be enough for Nokia. Apple and Android manufacturers have almost squeezed other operating systems out of the consumer market, and there’s no guarantee they won’t do the same in the business world.

Nokia sales chief Weber acknowledges that Apple and Android are formidable foes. But insists there can be what he calls a “3rd ecosystem” in the smartphone business.

“I am confident that the bet we have on Microsoft gives us the opportunity to be the 3rd,” Mr. Weber said. “I do think there is room and I think there is appetite.” Stay tuned…