Nokia releases first TD-SCDMA phone, for China Mobile

Nokia unveiled its first TD-SCDMA device, a smartphone for China Mobile, which Nokia hopes will help it tap into the Chinese mobile market, the world's largest in terms of subscribers. China began the transition to 3G earlier this year.

[1]The device, called the Nokia 6788, will ship by year-end, but no pricing information is available yet. Nokia said the 6788, which has a slider form factor, will use the Symbian S60 platform, and have a 5-megapixel camera and a 2.8-inch QVGA display.

Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvo said that the company made a "strategic decision to invest" in China's homegrown TD-SCDMA standard, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the third quarter, Nokia saw its smartphone market share decline significantly. The company shipped 16.4 million smartphones in the quarter, down from 16.9 million in the second quarter. Its smartphone market share fell to 35 percent, down from 41 percent in the second quarter. Additionally, Nokia's overall handset sales in China fell 6.6 percent, compared with the year-ago quarter.

Nokia is not the only company working with China Mobile on smartphones, however. In August, the carrier announced a deal with HTC for TD-SCDMA phones, including at least one Android phone. 

For more:
- see this WSJ article [2] (sub. req.)
- see this release [3]

Related Articles:
Nokia shocks market, posts $834M loss [4]
China Mobile plans $8.6B in 3G expansion [5]
China moves on 3G licenses [6]