Nokia to end phone sales in Japan

Finish mobile phone giant Nokia has said it will stop selling its handsets in Japan after struggling to grow its market share in the country.

Nokia said it would continue selling its luxury Vertu brand in Japan, and would dedicate its Japanese business to research purposes.

Samsung and LG have also faced problems in Japan - a market dominated by sophisticated domestic phones.

Nokia said recently that it would cut costs because of the global downturn.

"In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific localised products is no longer sustainable," said Nokia executive vice president Timo Ihamuotila.

Nokia has nearly 40% of the global market for mobile phones, but it reportedly managed to take only 0.3% of Japan's market last year.

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