Nokia's New Phone Gimmick (NOK, AAPL, GOOG, MSFT)

Mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) introduced three new smartphones in Hong Kong today. The new phones use the latest version of the company’s soon-to-be-defunct Symbian operating system. The idea that any of these phones has a chance to compete with the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) or smartphones running the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is beyond nonsensical.  Even calling this a gimmick feels a bit optimistic.

Nokia said it expects to sell 150 million handsets with the Symbian operating system well into 2012. If that happens, it remains questionable that the company will realize any significant profit from those sales.

The company has all but killed Symbian and these new phones, which have been in the pipeline for a while, are just a bit of attention-getting on Nokia’s part as the company prepares to launch later this year its first phones with a new operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Nokia expects the new smartphones to sell well in China, one of the company’s major markets and a place where inventory problems have hampered profits.

But the big problem is that Nokia trails both Apple and Samsung Electronics in the smartphone handset market, having lost more than half its market share from May 2010 to May 2011. Symbian won’t bring that share back, and it’s doubtful that the partnership with Microsoft will either.

Nokia’s shares are down nearly -3% at around noon today, at $5.94, within a 52-week range of $4.82-$11.75.

Paul Ausick