Nokia is a rather interesting company. The firm is still a major player in the mobile space, holding on to the largest share of the market. But 2009 was a difficult year for Nokia as its grip on the space continued to slip.

Worst of all, Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry models have made Nokia devices look old and obsolete.

Perhaps that's why the company's new mobile chief, Rick Simonson, decided to speak with the India Times on Monday to clear the air. Simonson acknowledges that things aren't great, but he's not willing to throw in the towel.

"Yes, we have lost ground in the smartphone space over the past 18 months, but the decline has stopped and stablized in the second and third quarters of 2009," Simonson told the India Times. "The new year will see [our] recovery in smartphones with the introduction of Maemo and the stabilization of the Symbian operating system, which by the way, continues to be the platform for the largest number of smartphones, globally."

Simonson went on to say that Nokia shipped over 200 million smartphones in 2009. The main problem for Nokia, Simonson said, is that it's "not well positioned in North America, which is a huge market."

But his company has a plan.

According to Simonson, Nokia will start "focusing on 'messaging' in a very big way." He added that "the likes of RIM are known for their success in high quality, very expensive e-mail solution, [but] Nokia's strategy is to bring inexpensive mail for everyone."

By 2011, Simonson predicted, Nokia's "efforts will start producing results, as we will be at par with Apple and RIM in smartphones."

Nokia plans to do so by making its e-mail platform more appealing, while increasing the value of its software through extras, like music and entertainment.

However, Simonson didn't make a single mention of the fact that many people are happy with RIM's e-mail service. Others are content with the iPhone's e-mail program. He also failed to mention how Nokia will fight Apple's App Store, which is becoming an increasingly bigger threat to the competition than RIM or Nokia want to admit.

Regardless, Simonson expects that Nokia can match Apple and RIM. Do you believe him?

Source:CNET