Nokia eyes netbook market with 'mini-laptop'

Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, plans to make laptops, branching out from its traditional mobile phone market to enter the fast-growing netbook sector with a "mini-laptop". The Finnish company is looking to broaden its base in mobile devices that connect to internet, crossing the border between two converging industries in the opposite direction to Apple, which entered the phone market in 2007 with the iPhone. Nokia has seen its profit margins drop over the last quarters as traditional handset demand has slumped, although sales of smartphones have accelerated. Research firm IDC expects netbook shipments this year to grow more than 127 per cent from 2008 to more than 26 million units, outperforming the overall PC market that is expected to remain flat and a phone market which is shrinking some 10 per cent. Nokia's first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G, will use Microsoft's Windows software and Intel's Atom processor to offer up to 12 hours of battery life while weighing just 1.25 kilograms. It will have a 10-inch screen and 3G wireless capability to connect to the web.

Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6808443.ece