CHICAGO, April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA), China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL), China Unicom Limited (NYSE: CHU) and Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL).

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Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Nokia Lumia Enters Chinese Market

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is set to launch their first Window-based smartphone, Lumia 800C, in the massively growing Chinese market. The new CDMA-based Lumia 800C handset is priced at $570 and is expected to be shipped from April, onwards.

The new Lumia 800C mobile phones will be sold through China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA), the third largest telecom operator in the dragon empire. Moreover, Nokia plans to extend its Lumia product portfolio in China from the second quarter of fiscal 2012 with the addition of favorably priced Lumia 610C handset. Apart from China Telecom, Nokia will also start selling its Lumia series of smartphones from the other two big players of Chinese telecom industry, China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom Limited (NYSE: CHU) in the near future.

In 2011, China contributed 17% of total handset device sales for Nokia while on revenue wise; it is the second largest contributor after Europe. Earlier, in November last year, Nokia launched their first Windows-based smartphones called Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710 in the European markets. At year-end 2011, the company sold more than 1 million handsets in those markets. However, the company is facing stiff competition from the newly launched Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) latest iPhone 4S and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S2.

So in order to stay in the race, the company is shifting its focus to the emerging markets of India and China as both these countries are vastly populated and remain untapped. So in order to cash in on this opportunity, Nokia is continuously bringing new wireless devices to those regions, well supported by strong distribution network and presence of manufacturing units, hence providing cost advantage to the company.

Nokia is also planning to ship their first 4G-enabled Windows smartphone called Lumia 900 in the U.S. at an affordable price of $99.99 from the beginning of April, 2012. By the end of this year, the company also plans to launch their next-generation tablets based on the upcoming Windows 8 software. These new devices coupled with other product launches will certainly help the company gain market traction going forward.

Currently, Nokia has a Zacks #5 Rank, implying a short-term Strong Sell rating on the stock.

Based in Espoo, Finland, Nokia Corporation is the largest mobile phone maker of the world. The company also provides Internet services, comprehensive digital map information, and equipment, solutions and services throughout the world.

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