Nokia Pins Smartphone Hopes on China BERLIN - Nokia said Wednesday it would begin selling its new line of Lumia phones in China next month through the one of the country's largest mobile operators, as it looks to speed its recovery in the key smartphone segment. China Telecom, with 126 million customers, will begin selling the Nokia Lumia 800C, a 3G Windows smartphone, in April. The operator will also begin selling the Lumia 610, Nokia's least expensive Windows smartphone, by June. A Chinese mobile analyst said the product introductions were likely to lift Nokia's chances of building momentum for Lumia Windows phones in China and in other countries. Under its year-old collaboration with Microsoft, Nokia is phasing out smartphones based on the Symbian operating system in favor of Windows. "Nokia's Window phones will greatly help the company improve its market performance in China," said Kevin Wang, an analyst in Shanghai at IHS Global Products and Services, a research firm. The Lumia 800C and 610 will run on China Telecom's wireless network, which uses a local variant of the code division multiple access, or CDMA, international technology standard. After initial introductions in some European and Asian markets last year, Nokia is planning to bring Lumia phones to U.S. and Latin American markets this year. The Chinese smartphone market is booming and Nokia has timed the introduction of the Lumia 800C to exploit the anticipated surge in the growth. Sales of smartphones in China are expected to rise to 120 million handsets this year from 65 million in 2011, according to IHS. Sales of CDMA phones are seen reaching 60 million units this year from 30 million in 2011. Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones by volume, has been a longtime employer and supplier of phones in China. In 2011, China accounted for 17 percent of Nokia's global sales. The company, based in Espoo, Finland, sold 65.8 million handsets, mostly basic non-smartphones, last year in China, which generated sales of €5.1 billion, or $6.7 billion. Nokia employed 22,568 people in China in 2011. Last year, Nokia had 1 percent of China's CDMA market, Mr. Wang at IHS said. But that share is likely to grow, he said, through the cooperation with China Telecom. The Nokia chief executive, Stephen Elop, said Nokia planned to sell its full line of Lumia smartphones, which includes the Lumia 710, 800 and 900, in China by the end of June. Those sales could take place through China Telecom or with other operators, Mr. Elop said. Mr. Elop and Wang Xiaochu, the chairman of China Telecom, announced the handset launch at a news conference in Beijing. Mr. Elop, a former Microsoft senior executive, said China Telecom and Nokia had worked closely to integrate China Telecom services on the devices. The Lumia 800C, which will cost 3,599 renminbi, or $571, without the operator's subsidy, will have music, games, video and reading applications on its home screen. The 800C is being sold through Tianyi FlyYoung shops, China Telecom's youth-oriented brand. "This grand launch for China's first CDMA Windows Phone represents our optimism and excitement for the future of Windows Phone and Nokia Lumia in China," Mr. Wang, the China Telecom chairman, said.