Nokia chief Stephen Elop has confirmed that the Nokia Windows Phone will debut in the markets this year, and not 2012 as some rumours said.
It was rumoure that a Nokia exec in Australasia had said that the new phones from Nokia would be available in the region only next year, but Elop said that the company’s first Windows Phone handset would be rolled out this year, but some regions could receive it later as the sale will be conducted in a country by country manner.
Speaking to a Chinese publication, Elop said Nokia’s first Windows Phone devices "will be in the market in the world in Q4."
The rollout will be phased, so the phones will be available "in one country after another after another over time," he said.
In February this year, Nokia announced its software partnership under which it would adopt Microsoft’s Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system.
During the announcement, Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila had said Nokia Windows phones will be on the stores from 2012.
Earlier, Elop has mostly referred to the adoption as Windows Phone – and not Windows Phone 7. He has also refused to commit a date for the introduction of Nokia Windows Phones till now.
