The world's biggest mobile phone maker saw a 66% slide in quarterly profit as the economic downturn hit demand for handsets. Rival Sony Ericsson also reported a quarterly loss and warned that the rest of the year would remain difficult for the company.

Nokia's strategic relationship with Intel, announced last month, may be very forward-looking and not about to worry any incumbent wireless chipset suppliers, but it is nonetheless threatening to Europe's local hero, ARM Holdings.

Apple, Nokia, Samsung, and others have agreed to adopt a charging standard for "data-enabled" mobile devices based on USB. The current agreement only applies to the European Union, though it is hoped that the standard may be adopted worldwide.

Finland and China have recently signed high-tech contracts worth US$1 billion (euro720,000) and planned new top-level trade talks aimed at further deals worth more than US$2 billion, according to Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

"Even if they get just a piece of Nokia'ss business, it's a big deal," said Will Strauss, a Cave Creek, Arizona-based analyst for research firm Forward Concepts. "Nokia is still the biggest cell-phone maker in the world."