Nokia N-Gage sales speed up, much later than expected

But its first foray into the fierce gaming market, home ofthe Nintendo Game Boy, was hindered by poor design. Critics pilloried the way games were loaded into the phone and said the screen size was too small. Nokia, which meanwhile was struggling with disappointing sales of its mainstay handset business due to lack of attractive new models, mended some of the shortcomings within six months.

Ilkka Raiskinen, head of the firm’s games unit, said the reception of its sleeker, cheaper ‘‘N-Gage QD’’ phone unveiled in April was promising. After launches in Europe and Asia the phone hit U.S. Shelves in July.

‘‘With our first device we were pretty much missing the US market, but now the initial feedback from the operators as well as from the consumers and other stakeholders (on the new phone) has been promising,’’ Raiskinen said. ‘‘We have all the reasons to be confident that the 2 million mark will be reached much sooner than during the next 10 months,’’ he said by telephone. Raiskinen indicated that after making some big changes tothe first N-Gage, including putting a game slot on the phone’s side and removing its MP3 player, Nokia was comfortable with the look of N-Gage QD and keen to focus on the games offering. He said that the firm had looked into other possible changes such as adding a larger screen, but that would entail an upgrade of the processer and battery and raise the phone’s price. ‘‘You can draw the conclusion that we have been discussing these kinds of possibilities … building another terminal with these kinds of features is fairly easy,’’ he said. But Nokia decided to invest resources into a strong catalogue of software titles and ondine activities, he said. Nokia has some 25 games out now and has launched home-made titles like “Pathway to Glory”. (Reuters)