Nokia and Yahoo deal: more to come next year

Nokia and Yahoo's new deal to collaborate on mobile services has prompted Nokia to admit it hasn't gained the success in the US it has hoped for, as well as confirming this isn't the full extent of collaboration between the brands.

"Once we go live, Ovi Maps will be available for tens of millions of users of Yahoo maps in the North American market," said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia.

"These newly powered services will be coming in the second half of the year, with more to follow."

While much of the focus was on Ovi Maps now powering Yahoo's mapping and navigation offering, which highlights Nokia's desire to diversify beyond simple handset manufacture, it's clear the Finnish firm is unhappy with the way its seen in the US.

The biggest, but not the biggest

"For Nokia, one market to us is the US," added Kallasvuo. "We are an unusual global company in that we are clearly the leader in our industry, but we do not lead in the biggest market: the US.

"[With this deal] we're now looking to change that."

Yahoo is looking for similar opportunities by piggy-backing on Nokia's success in emerging markets like India and Indonesia, where many users are experience the internet for the first time, via a mobile phone.

"Nokia has the strongest track record in these [developing] markets, and we get to leverage that position," said Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo.

"Ovi's going to grow much faster thanks to Yahoo. We are seeing significant growth [in these developing markets], a huge increase in countries year over year, demonstrating a clear appetite for mobile and internet services."