Nokia Needs Microsoft Deal To fight I-Phone & Android

Investors are advicing Nokia to connect forces with Microsoft, to take on the might of Apple's i-Phone and dozens of devices running Google Android.

Shares in the struggling Finnish mobile giant yesterday continued their ascent, which began on Monday with an open letter from an industry analyst pressing for an exclusive agreement linking Nokia devices to Windows Phone 7.

The letter, from London-based Berenberg Bank analyst Adnan Ahmad, also urges Nokia to discard its own Linux-based operating system MeeGo.

After dominating the mobile industry for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Nokia has so far unsuccessful to respond to the rise of i-Phone and Android. Its market share continues to slide, despite spending almost $4bn on investigate and development in 2010, around 3 times the industry average, according to Bernstein investigation.

Meanwhile Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 received a broadly encouraging review when it was released in October, but both Apple and Google have years' head start in refining their customer Smart phone operating systems, and in recruiting app developers.

Mr Ahmad's letter, jointly addressed to Nokia CEO Stephen Elope and his Microsoft counterpart Steve Ballmer, suggests that they could mount a stronger challenge collectively.

WORLD TECHNOLOGY {WT }