Nokia unveils new business phones

By Tarmo Virki

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's top cellphone maker Nokia unveiled two new phone models aimed at corporate clients on Monday, revamping its somewhat aging offering to business customers.

The new Nokia phones -- widely expected after leaks on the Internet -- do not include Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry service, supported on all of Nokia's previous corporate handsets.

Shares in Nokia closed 1.95 percent lower in Helsinki at 16.57 euros, while RIM stock was over four percent higher at C$142.61 as investors did not view Nokia's new model threatening RIM's position.

"This is not going to change anything," said Nomura analyst Richard Windsor.

"They've got to do much more, they have to do a complete offering. The problem is they don't offer device independence and they don't have the embedded position that RIM does."

The new sliding model E66, and the E71, with full keyboard, both start shipping in July and will retail for around 350 euros ($538), excluding operator subsidies and local taxes.

Analysts said it was not a major problem that Nokia, which has always offered a wide range of e-mails on its devices, did not offer BlackBerry e-mail on the new phones.

"We do see a number of organizations adopting a 'RIM plus one' strategy but in such cases they typically provide Blackberry for senior executives and some other device/email platform for mainstream users," said Gartner analyst Nick Jones.