Nokia has sold its New York headquarters, located north of Manhattan in an industrial area outside of White Plains, New York. Purchased six years ago for $30 million, the struggling Finnish vendor sold the building to biotechnology firm Histogenetics for $12 million. ”It’s a great deal for 12 million bucks,” Michael Rao, president of the realtor representing Histogenetics, told LoHud.com. “The building is gorgeous. It’s so spectacular.” Nokia’s move comes as its struggles in the global mobile market continue; the company posted a huge $1.7 billion loss in the second quarter after losing $1.2 billion in the first quarter. Excluding the White Plains office, Nokia currently has 27 U.S. office locations listed on its website in addition to its North American headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

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Microsoft’s mobile platform has not been the blockbuster success the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant was hoping for thus far. Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iPhone are still dominating the smartphone space by a huge margin in the United States and abroad, while Microsoft’s share of the global smartphone market has continued to decline. According to a new report from market research firm Kantar WorldPanel, however, Windows Phone is finally showing signs of life in several key markets.

Kantar WorldPanel on Tuesday issued its report on smartphone market share in the U.S. and a number of large markets around the world, Reuters reported. According to the firm’s research, Android showed solid gains during the three month period ending in mid-April in nearly every major market Kantar covers, more than doubling its share to 62% in Germany and nearly doubling its share in both Spain and Italy.

Apple’s iPhone gained market share in the U.S. and United Kingdom thanks to strong iPhone 4S shipments according to Kantar, though Apple’s position did slip in Europe.

As Apple and Google continue to battle atop the smartphone charts, however, some good news has emerged for Microsoft. According to Kantar, Nokia’s Lumia phone launches have doubled Windows Phone’s market share to 6% in Germany, and boosted the platform’s share in the U.S., U.K., France and Italy to between 3% and 4%.

Nokia’s Symbian OS and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform were the biggest losers in Kantar’s report, with RIM’s share of the U.S. market plummeting to 3% from 9% in the same period a year ago.

Nokia continues to struggle as the once dominant cell phone maker continues to lose share in both the smartphone and broader mobile market. The Finnish vendor’s Lumia handsets have yet to take off and Nokia’s stock has tumbled 90% over the past five years. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop may look toward his former employer, Microsoft, to step in and help the troubled handset maker, Reuters suggests. The company’s partnership with the software giant is seen as a last chance to turn its business around. Microsoft is already paying Nokia $1 billion a year to use the Windows Phone platform, and many analysts believe the company may be willing to help out further if Nokia’s problems were to intensify.

“If Nokia ends up in financial difficulties I believe the helping hand would be there,” said Sami Sarkamies, an analyst at Nordea. Another technology banker agreed, saying “I don’t see Microsoft owning Nokia, but it would definitely provide financing to the tune of a couple of billion dollars.”

If Microsoft were to support Nokia, it would most likely be in the form of an inter-company loan or an equity stake, rather than a full takeover, the report suggests. Despite having nearly $60 billion of cash, the the Redmond-based company has traditionally steered clear of the hardware business where mobile is concerned.

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Adding insult to injury is never a concern for the litigious among us, and one man has filed a class action suit against Nokia in New York because its comeback, thus far, has been anything but. Complaint Robert Chmielinski, represented by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, alleges that Nokia’s shift to the Windows Phone platform has not halted its sliding position in the global smartphone market, as the company promised it would. Nokia reported last month that it lost a staggering $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012 after losing nearly $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter last year. According to Chmielinski and the class he claims to represent, Nokia violated federal securities laws by telling investors that the switch to Windows Phone would stop the bleeding.

“The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants told investors that Nokia’s conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not,” the lawsuit states. “This became apparent on April 11, 2012, when Nokia disclosed that its first quarter performance would be worse than expected. Nokia expected its first quarter 2012 non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin to fall by 3%, and projected first quarter 2012 Devices & Services net sales of €4.2 billion.”

“It also disclosed a glitch in its newest Windows offering – the Lumia 900. Nokia had to immediately offer customers an automatic $100, making the phone essentially free,” the complaint continued. ”As a result of this disclosure, the price of Nokia’s American Depositary Shares (‘ADRs’) dropped over 16% in a single day.”

Chmielinski and his layers seek unspecified damages for themselves as well as all individuals and institutions that owned publicly traded shares of Nokia stock during the class period. The complaint was filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 3rd.

Following the publication of this article, Nokia issued the following statement: “Nokia has become aware of the filing of a securities class action complaint naming Nokia Corporation as a defendant, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 3, 2012. Nokia is reviewing the allegations contained in the complaint and believes that they are without merit. Nokia will defend itself against the complaint.”

Updated with Nokia’s statement in final paragraph.

Nokia’s outgoing Chairman Jorma Ollila told the Financial Times the company plans to launch a range of tablets and “hybrid” smart mobile devices, although no time frame was given, Reuters reported. The Chairman, who has been with the company for 27 years, admitted that Nokia acted too slow at the start of the smartphone revolution. He believes, however, that the combination of new products and Nokia services will help the company recover.”Tablets are an important one, so that is being looked into, and there will be different hybrids, different form factors in the future,” he said. Nokia’s failed smartphone strategy has cost the company dearly. Due to Samsung’s success in the market, the South Korean manufacturer recently ended Nokia’s 14-year streak as the world’s top mobile phone vendor.

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Nokia on Wednesday announced that its 41-megapixel camera-equipped 808 PureView smartphone will begin rolling out later this month in Russia, India and additional unnamed markets. Nokia unveiled the impressive camera phone in February during the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain, and BGR took a hands-on look at the device during the show. While a 41-megapixel sensor coupled with Carl Zeiss optics place the handset in a league of its own, the 808 PureView is powered by the Symbian operating system, which Nokia is currently in the process of dumping in favor of Microsoft’s Windows Phone. ”PureView has completely raised the bar on imaging performance for the whole smartphone industry – and Nokia is not stopping here,” Nokia smartphone boss Jo Harlow said. “We’re going to carry on developing PureView for our future smartphones in ways that will again revolutionize the imaging experience.” Nokia’s full press release follows below.

Nokia to begin rolling out award-winning Nokia 808 PureView in May

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today confirmed that the Nokia 808 PureView will start rolling out in select markets in May. The Nokia 808 PureView is the first smartphone to feature Nokia’s award-winning PureView technology. PureView represents Nokia’s highest level smartphone imaging experiences, bringing together high-performance sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics, and Nokia developed imaging algorithms. The first markets to begin selling the Nokia 808 PureView include Russia and India.

Since its launch in February, the Nokia 808 PureView has receivedmultiple awards, including Best Mobile Device at Mobile World Congress 2012, as well as an award for Best Imaging Innovation for 2012 from the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA).

“PureView has completely raised the bar on imaging performance for the whole smartphone industry – and Nokia is not stopping here,” said Jo Harlow, Head of Smart Devices at Nokia. “We’re going to carry on developing PureView for our future smartphones in ways that will again revolutionize the imaging experience.”

The Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology. At standard resolutions (2/3, 5 and 8 megapixels) this means the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture seven pixels of information, condensing into one pixel for the sharpest images imaginable. At high-resolution (38 megapixels maximum) it means the ability to capture an image, then zoom, reframe, crop and resize afterwards to expose previously unseen levels of details. With superior low-light performance and the ability to save in compact file sizes for sharing in email, MMS, and on social networks, the Nokia 808 PureView makes it possible for anyone to capture professional looking images in any conditions.

In addition to superior still imaging technology, the Nokia 808 PureView also includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom and the world’s first use of Nokia Rich Recording.  Rich Recording enables audio recording at CD-like levels of quality, previously only possible with external microphones. The Nokia 808 PureView also features exclusive Dolby Headphone technology, transforming stereo content into a personal surround sound experience over any headphones and Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 channel surround sound playback.

Check out our Nokia 808 PureView photo gallery.

During the annual Consumer Electronics Show in January 2009, a struggling smartphone company that had once helped shape the mobile industry unveiled its next-generation platform. It was gorgeous. The design was unique and appealing, the gesture-based controls were smart and intuitive, and the company’s new smartphone operating system offered a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by just two major players, Apple and Google.

On August 18th, 2011, less than three years after this promising new platform was unveiled, it was effectively laid to rest.

During the annual BlackBerry World conference on Tuesday, a struggling smartphone company that had once helped shape the mobile industry unveiled its next-generation platform. It was gorgeous. The design was unique and appealing, the gesture-based controls were smart and intuitive, and the company’s new smartphone operating system offered a breath of fresh air in an industry dominated by just two major players, Apple and Google.

Yes, history is repeating itself.

There are too many comparisons between Research In Motion today and Palm in late 2008 and early 2009 to count. Ignoring the similarities between Palm and HP’s webOS platform and BlackBerry 10 is ignoring the obvious: a sleek UI that deviates from industry leaders and innovates in several key areas, sky-high ambitions, aspirations of pushing the platform beyond smartphones and onto various other products, and a seemingly impossible lead to overcome. RIM is in a much better place than Palm was at that time, of course, with a much larger user base, better performance and more resources at its disposal. Despite these advantages, however, both of these stories may end up sharing the same final chapter if RIM can’t find a way to tip the scales in its favor.

New chief executive Thorsten Heins took the stage on Tuesday and showed the world an operating system that looks absolutely nothing like BlackBerry 7. This is a very good thing. Based on RIM’s PlayBook OS, BlackBerry 10 appears to have the fit and finish of a modern mobile platform at this early stage. The UI is a complete overhaul compared to RIM’s current smartphone OS, and while Heins’s preview was very brief, we saw a number of exciting new features unveiled.

RIM showed us an interesting take on predictive text input that places words above various keys lying in the path of letters the user might type. A simple flick gesture will then complete the word. This solution is more elegant and logical than existing options that place a list of word recommendations across the top of the virtual keypad, and it is nice to see RIM innovating in a space it led for so long.

The camera software in BlackBerry 10 is fascinating as well. RIM’s next-generation smartphones will capture a series of photographs in the background as the user snaps an image. This will allow users to cycle regions of the image forward or backward in time to correct closed eyes or alter other aspects of a photo.

The problem, however, is that features like these won’t sell phones, regardless of how innovative and exciting they might be.

These features are a small piece of a massive puzzle that must be arranged in just the right order to allow a third player to emerge and succeed in today’s market. Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android have tremendous momentum, proven ecosystems and developer support, widespread carrier support and massive marketing budgets helping to sustain their success.

To say RIM has its work cut out for it is an understatement of monumental proportions. Plainly put, right now is likely the worst time in smartphone history to launch a new platform.

Apple and Google lead in the smartphone platform race by a staggering margin, and Nokia and Microsoft have a head start in terms of using innovation, a spectacular product and boatloads of cash in attempt to establish a successful third platform. And in terms of smartphone profits, that’s a two-horse race as well right now.

At some point in the coming years, other platforms will undoubtedly emerge and find success in the smartphone space. The odds are not in a contender’s favor today, however, as Apple and Google are both at the top of their game. To make matters somehow even worse for RIM, its first BlackBerry 10 smartphone will likely launch in the very same month as Apple’s next-generation iPhone, which BGR expects to feature a complete redesign when it is released this fall.

BlackBerry 10 is shaping up to be an impressive platform, and we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. It looks elegant, well thought-out and very powerful — just like webOS. Whether or not RIM can avoid a similar fate for its mobile platform remains to be seen, but unfortunately, we haven’t been shown anything compelling or significantly differentiated thus far that suggests this will be the case. For RIM’s sake, and for the sake of smartphone users everywhere who are hungry for a viable new platform, let’s hope that changes.

The global smartphone market grew by 42.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012, as the worldwide mobile phone market declined 1.5%. According to market research firm IDC, vendors shipped a total of 398.4 million mobile phones in the first quarter compared to 404.3 million units in the same quarter last year. Samsung ousted longtime leader Nokia to become the world’s largest mobile phone vendor, and it topped Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor. The South Korea-based vendor increased its profits by 82% to a record 5.05 trillion won in the first quarter, and shipped 42.2 million smartphones to capture 29.1% of the market according to IDC. Apple’s smartphone share grew around 6%, as the Cupertino-based company shipped 35.1 units to capture 24.2% of market.

“The race between Apple and Samsung remained tight during the quarter, even as both companies posted growth in key areas,” said IDC senior research analyst Ramon Llamas. “Apple launched its popular iPhone 4S in additional key markets, most notably in China, and Samsung experienced continued success from its Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet and other Galaxy smartphones. With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will bear close observation as hotly-anticipated new models are launched.”

Samsung and Apple’s gains have come at the expense of Nokia, Research in Motion and HTC. Nokia shipped a mere 11.9 million smartphones, down from 24.2 million, falling roughly 15% to capture only 8.2% of the global smartphone market. RIM’s share fell from 13.6% in the first quarter of 2011 to 6.7% last quarter, and HTC’s market share dropped from 8.9% to 4.8%.

Samsung’s smartphone growth also helped propel the company into the No.1 spot among all mobile phone vendors. The South Korean company saw year-over-year growth of 35.4%, shipping 93.8 million units, up from 69.3 in the same quarter of 2011, to capture 23.5% of the mobile market. Nokia shipped 82.7 million units, down from 100.5 in the first quarter of 2011, and saw its market share fall to 20.8% from 26.8%.

“The halcyon days of rapid growth in the smartphone market have been good to Samsung,” said IDC senior research analyst Kevin Restivo. “Samsung has used its established relationships with carriers in a mix of economically diverse markets to gain share organically and at the expense of former high fliers such as Nokia.”

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Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently purchased a Nokia Lumia 900 and thus far has had nothing but a pleasant experience with the device. The folks over at aNewDomain.net caught up with “the Woz” and spoke to him about his opinion on the Windows Phone platform. “Just for looks and beauty I definitely favor the Windows Phone over Android,” he said. Wozniak called the operating system “intuitive and beautiful,” and said it makes him feel as if he is “with a friend not a tool.” He also noted that apps on the Lumia look “more beautiful than on Android or iPhone.” Despite his praise, Woz maintains that the iPhone is still his favorite smartphone. The co-founder isn’t shy about his opinions and has previously stated that in many ways Android had lept ahead of Apple and the iPhone. 

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Samsung reported a blow-out first quarter on Friday as strong mobile phone sales helped the consumer electronics giant increase profits by 82% to a record 5.05 trillion won. The numbers were undoubtedly impressive as they stood, but market research firm Strategy Analytics helps us paint a broader picture of just how dominant Samsung’s mobile business was in the first quarter. On the smartphone side, Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung sold a staggering 44.5 million smartphones into channels last quarter, overtaking Apple’s 35.1 million iPhones by a landslide and making Samsung the top-selling smartphone vendor in the world.

“Global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent annually to reach 145.3 million units in Q1 2012,” Strategy Analytics analyst Alex Spektor said in a statement. “Samsung overtook Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with a record 31 percent market share. Samsung’s global smartphone shipments rose 253 percent annually to 44.5 million units, as demand surged for its popular Galaxy models such as the Note, S2 and Y.”

According to the firm’s estimates, Samsung’s total mobile phone shipments reached 93.5 million units in the first quarter, giving the vendor a record 25% share of the global cell phone market. Nokia’s handset shipments declined 24% to 82.7 million units in the quarter, making Samsung the No.1 mobile phone vendor in the world and ending Nokia’s 14-year run as top handset vendor.

“Nokia’s global handset shipments declined a huge 24 percent annually to 82.7 million units in Q1 2012,” Strategy Analytics’s Neil Mawston said. ”Volumes were squeezed at both ends, as low-end feature phone shipments in emerging markets stalled and high-end Microsoft Lumia smartphones were unable to offset the rapid decline of Nokia’s legacy Symbian business. Nokia was the world’s largest handset vendor between 1998 and 2011, for 14 years, before finally yielding top position to rival Samsung this quarter.”

As previously reported, Nokia on Monday held a groundbreaking ceremony that kicked-off development of the company’s first manufacturing facility in Vietnam. The new plant is located in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Bac Ninh province and is beng developed on 42 acres of land. Nokia plans to open the factory in early 2013 and create as many as 10,000 new jobs while producing 45 million handsets by the end of 2014. “Thanks to the valued support from the Vietnamese government, our manufacturing program in Vietnam has been progressing well,” said Mary McDowell, Nokia’s Executive Vice President of Mobile Phones. “The new Nokia manufacturing plant will produce and provide new devices for compelling and affordable, localized mobile experiences, particularly in the growth markets.” Nokia’s press release follows below.

Nokia officially starts the development of its manufacturing facility in Vietnam

Reaffirming long-term commitment to the country and the company’s strategy to connect the next billion to information and the Internet

Bac Ninh, Vietnam – In an official ceremony today, Nokia kicked-off the development of its manufacturing facility in Vietnam, to serve the growing demand for mobile phones all over the world. The event featured Secretary of the Central Party Committee, Vice President of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Madam Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Quan; Ambassador of Finland to Vietnam, Kimmo Lähdevirta; and high ranking officials from Central authorities and Bac Ninh province amongst more than 200 others.

Located in Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Bac Ninh province, the Nokia Vietnam manufacturing facility is being developed on an area of 17 hectares. Nokia expects to start the operations of this factory in early 2013.

Today’s event is one step further in reaffirming Nokia’s long term commitment to the Vietnam market, under Nokia’s strategy to connect the next billion people to information and the Internet.

Nokia’s position in high growth economies is strong, and mobile phones play a strategic role. The new manufacturing site is being established to meet the growth in demand for these phones, as well as to help Nokia to deliver a contemporary mobile experience to the next billion consumers all over the world.

“We highly appreciate Nokia’s efforts in making this commitment a reality, which contributes to the growth of foreign investment in Vietnam in general and in Bac Ninh in particular. We also hope this will bring up not only economic value, but also other social benefits for the country like job creation and community knowledge enhancement on information technology alike,” said Mr. Nguyen Nhân Chien, President of People’s Committee of Bac Ninh province.

Mary McDowell, Executive Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia, said: “Thanks to the valued support from the Vietnamese government, our manufacturing program in Vietnam has been progressing well. The new Nokia manufacturing plant will produce and provide new devices for compelling and affordable, localized mobile experiences, particularly in the growth markets.

“Nokia is also committed to extending our positive reputation as an employer and as a corporate citizen. We expect to attract competent and energetic employees from the local skilled labor force. And in turn, employees at our new factory can expect a state-of-the-art facility and a positive, modern working environment with high professional and ethical standards,” continued McDowell.

Nokia is making progress in its strategy to connect the next billion. The company has launched an aspirational portfolio of devices that include fresh, contemporary design and form factors that are optimized for great experiences, such as social, entertainment, and messaging, and services that extend the value proposition to consumers.

Nokia first opened its doors in Vietnam in 1996 and, like many successful multinationals, saw Vietnam as a growing market with opportunity and potential. In light of the respect Nokia has wherever it operates, the company has worked hard to quickly become part of the Vietnamese community.

Nokia currently operates two representative offices in Vietnam: one in Ho Chi Minh City and the other in Hanoi. These offices carry out marketing and promotion activities for Nokia’s handset business. In 2011, Nokia established a branch office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, increasing its footprint within the IndoChina region.

In November, 2011, Nokia established a new company, Nokia (Vietnam) LLC, to build and operate the new Vietnam manufacturing facility.

While Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform may not be as big as Apple and Google’s offerings, it is still possible for app developers to find success on the emerging operating system. A year ago, FourBros Studio launched a free game called Taptitude on the Windows Phone Marketplace. The game, as of today, has earned the company over $100,000 in revenue and boasts more than 300,000 users, Business Insider reported on Thursday. Interestingly enough, the company’s revenue has spiked since the launch of Nokia’s Windows Phones. FourBros Studio uses Microsoft’s pubCenter, along with a service called AdDuplex, to sell advertisements on Taptitude, which is now making roughly $1,000 a day and averaging over 1 million daily impressions. The success of FourBros Studio could encourage more developers to join the Windows Phone platform, which has struggled to gain market share since launching more than a year ago.

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Nokia warned that its first-quarter earnings would be weak, and the numbers are now in. Revenue declined 30% to €7.4 billion, or $9.7 billion USD last quarter, down from €10.4 billion, or $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year. The company posted a massive €1.3 billion loss, or $1.7 billion USD, which breaks down to a loss of €0.25 per share. Smartphone sales plummeted 52% to 1.7 billion units in the first quarter, and net device sales dropped 40% to 4.2 billion units. Read on for more.

“We are navigating through a significant company transition in an industry environment that continues to evolve and shift quickly,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said. “Over the last year we have made progress on our new strategy, but we have faced greater than expected competitive challenges. We have launched four Lumia devices ahead of schedule to encouraging awards and popular acclaim. The actual sales results have been mixed. We exceeded expectations in markets including the United States, but establishing momentum in certain markets including the UK has been more challenging.”

Nokia confirmed earlier this month that it sold 2 million Lumia Windows Phones in the first quarter, and it said on Wednesday that sales of its Lumia 900 smartphone at AT&T have been “encouraging” thus far. The Lumia 900 launched on April 8th, so sales are not reflected in Nokia’s first-quarter report.

The company confirmed in a separate statement that Colin Giles, executive vice president of sales, has resigned.

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Following reports of a Windows Phone developer evangelist claiming that every Windows Phone 7.5 device currently on the market will receive an upgrade to Microsoft’s next-generation Windows Phone 8 operating system, doubt has been cast over the accuracy of his claims. In an interview with Portuguese technology news site Zwame, Microsoft developer evangelist Nuno Silva stated that all current devices would eventually be updated to the ”next major version” of Microsoft’s mobile platform. A subsequent report from The Verge contradicts Silva’s claims, however, and cites an anonymous source in stating that devices running Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” will not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 “Apollo.” Microsoft would not clarify its upgrade plans. ”We have stated publicly that all apps in our Marketplace today will run on the next version of Windows Phone,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “Beyond that, we have nothing to share about future releases.”

Read [Zwame] Read [The Verge]

Nokia’s attempt to regain the traction in the mobile market is turning out to be more difficult than the company once thought. Four major wireless carriers in Europe have said that Nokia’s Lumia smartphones are “not good enough” to compete with Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Nokia bet big on Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform last year, however the gamble has yet to pay off according to the report. “No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows phone,” said an executive in charge of mobile devices at a European operator. The company is now playing catch up with Apple and Google after suffering a huge decline that hurt its image in the high-end market, and according to Reuters’s sources, Windows Phone might be making matters worse. “Nokia have given themselves a double challenge: to restore their credibility in terms of making hardware smartphones and succeed with the Microsoft Windows operating system, which lags in the market,” the executive said. “If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell.”

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