Phone major
Nokia has selected ST-Ericsson as a supplier of chipsets for future devices it
plans to introduce based on the Microsoft Windows Phone mobile platform.

 

“We are
pleased to have been selected by Nokia as a key partner for Windows
smartphones, in line with our goal to be present in all segments and major
operating systems,” said Gilles Delfassy, president and CEO of ST-Ericsson.

 

ST-Ericsson,
a 50:50 joint venture between STMicroelectronics and Ericsson, generated sales
of $2.3 billion in 2010.

 

ST-Ericsson
technology would enable Nokia to offer cheaper Windows Phones and in new
regions.

 

So far
Microsoft has limited the use of its platform to high-end smartphone models
using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, limiting the potential audience, but Nokia
has said it would seek to offer cheaper models soon, according to media reports.

 

Nokia last week
unveiled its first two smartphone models using Microsoft software. The models,
Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, will use Qualcomm chipsets and many analysts had
expected that choice to establish Qualcomm as a main supplier for Nokia
smartphones.

 

Windows Phones
has 2-3 percent of the smartphone market.

 

Windows Phone
in Asia-Pacific will increase in the business smartphone market over the next
five years, and in 2016 will reach 25 per cent of the market for sales of
corporate devices, according to
Ovum.

 

Enterprise
shipments of Windows Phone smartphones in Asia-Pacific will reach 1.1 million
in 2016, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37 per cent from the 236,000
it will reach at the end of this year. However, reflecting trends in the
consumer smartphone market, Windows Phone and other OS devices will make
significant gains. Ongoing improvements in manageability of these device
platforms, and support for more business applications, will begin to make these
devices much more appealing to enterprise buyers, Ovum said.

 

ST-Ericsson,
which has never made a quarterly profit, has been cutting costs since it was
formed in 2009 as new products are yet to compensate for declining sales of
older chipsets.

 

By
Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]