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Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will begin an assault on tablet computer industry.  Late to the market? Damage to its brand because of a lack of popular smartphones will undermine prospects of strong sales. Nokia may believe it has no choice but to enter the business. Recent research shows that tablet sales growth is much better than PC growth. Smartphones and tablets have begun to push the PC out of many markets entirely, as wireless connection speeds and chips powered for the devices have improved. Nokia continues to search for a formula that can pull it out of doldrums that have caused it to go from the premier handset company to an also-ran. One solution is to marry its smartphones with the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) mobile operating system. But that system has gotten almost no adoption as it competes with the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-powered devices. A Nokia tablet probably has the same fate as the Playbook from Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM). It will be a product made by a company that consumers believe is dead.