Cheap Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets to land in 2011

Stephen Elop tells reporters that first handsets are on their way

Nokia is planning to slash the price of Windows Phone 7 handsets currently on the market when it launches the first fruits of the recently announced partnership with Microsoft, according to reports.

Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop told Reuters that reaching "a very low price point" on handsets was one of the key discussion points in the negotiations between the two firms, which ended in their partnership announcement a fortnight ago.

"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Elop reportedly said in a meeting with journalists.

As part of the deal, Nokia will use Windows Phone 7 as its high-end smartphone platform, marginalising the Intel-backed MeeGo platform and effectively sounding the death knell for Symbian.

Microsoft is prepared to relax its hardware requirements for Windows Phone 7 devices in an attempt to help manufacturers drive down prices, Reuters said. For example, chipset suppliers other than Qualcomm will be able to vie for business.

V3.co.uk contacted Nokia for further comment but the smartphone giant said it had nothing to add to the Reuters story.

However, Jo Harlow, Nokia's senior vice president of smart devices, hinted heavily at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week that the first Windows Phone device will be launched this year.

However, the deal between Nokia and Microsoft has still to be finalised, and is due to be signed in the next couple of months, according to Elop.

V3.co.uk readers appear to be split in the debate over whether Nokia made the right decision in snubbing Android and partnering with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7.

Some 35 per cent agreed that Nokia should have gone with Android rather than the unproven Windows Phone 7, although 32 per cent said that the partnership was a smart move given Nokia's current slump in fortunes.