Exec says Nokia must speed up transformation: report

A woman uses her mobile telephone as she passes a Nokia advert in London July 20, 2009.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Nokia needs to speedily boost its offering of mobile internet solutions, marketing head Anssi Vanjoki told a German magazine and did not rule out a sale of its core handset manufacturing business in the long term.

Nokia, the No. 1 global cellphone maker, needs to catch up with the rivals Apple, Google and Blackberry-maker RIM in offering online solutions, Vanjoki was quoted as saying by weekly Wirtschaftswoche in an excerpt of an interview to be published on Monday.

Nokia's mobile-device factories offered an important competitive advantage but one should "never say never" should a sale at some point be warranted as part of Nokia's transformation, he was quoted as saying.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger)