Nokia plans 6-12 phones for N. America in '08

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By Sinead Carew

LAS VEGAS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hopes to launch six to 12 new phones customized for North American carriers in 2008, versus three in 2007, as the company aims to improve its No. 4 U.S. market share, the president of its North American business said on Wednesday.

Nokia leads the global cell phone market but has struggled to compete in the United States, where it had an 11 percent market share in the third quarter, according to Strategy Analytics. Motorola Inc (MOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), ranked No. 3 globally, was the U.S. leader with a 33 percent share in that period.

To change this, Nokia appointed Mark Louison to his newly created role of president for North America in July and has been working on boosting the number of phones it designs in collaboration with specific U.S. carriers since the fall of 2006.

"It's not unreasonable you'd see between six to 12 new operator-specific devices this year. It'll probably be more than this," Louison said in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show.

"You'll see some of that in the first half of 2008, with the velocity to increase that in the second half and going full steam ahead in 2009," Louison said.

The company said last year it expected to see improvements in its North American business around the start of 2008.