Nokia to close its two U.S. flagship stores

From CNET News.com: Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile handsets, said Thursday that it plans to close two flagship stores in the U.S. as it refines its sales strategy and struggles to get a bigger foothold in the North American market.

Nokia also said it plans to close one of two stores in London. And it will look for a new location for its Sao Paolo store.

The U.S. Nokia stores that will be closed are in New York and Chicago. Nokia has 12 stores worldwide. It opened the first store in Moscow in 2005. Nokia said closing the stores is part of a new retail strategy that includes more cooperation with operators and other retailers.

Nokia's shift in strategy comes as the company indicates it plans to focus more on services and applications through its online Ovi store. Last month, the company said it plans to limit the number of devices it will launch as hardware has become less important to consumers and services and applications have become more important.

It's hardly a surprise that Nokia would shut down the U.S. stores as it refines its retail strategy, since this is one of the company's weakest markets. While Nokia still dominates the worldwide cell phone market with about 37 percent market share, the company's market share in the U.S. is only in the single digits. For years, the company has said that it plans to focus on the North American market, particularly the U.S. But little progress has been made.

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