Stephen Elop dismisses suggestions of Nokia sale as 'baseless rumours'

Firm aiming to cut device release cycle by a third, but future product details still under wraps

Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop has again been forced to dismiss what he called "baseless rumours" that the company is up for sale in the face of continued speculation.

Microsoft and Samsung have been rumoured to be interested in buying Nokia, but Elop rebutted these suggestions during a speech at the Open Mobile Media summit in London on Thursday.

However, Elop did reveal that Nokia will offer differentiated software and services on the Windows Phone 7 platform as the company seeks to exploit the deal with Microsoft to enhance its position.

"We jumped in late with Microsoft during the Mango cycle, but with each release you'll see more influence of Nokia in unique differentiation on hardware, software and services," he said.

However, Elop did not mention any specifics on forthcoming products beyond saying that he recently saw devices in development at the firm's San Diego offices.

One of the challenges Elop is working to address is the speed at which Nokia products are brought to market.

"We have to go through a fundamental reset of the speed of execution and we are looking to cut the time it takes to bring products to market by a third by increasing the sense of urgency in what we do," he said.

Elop added that Nokia had been wary of choosing Android as it was unsure of the platform's future status, and that fragmentation may cause headaches for manufacturers basing devices on Android.

Nokia recently cancelled its earnings forecast for 2011 and significantly reduced its expectations for the second quarter of the year as tough market conditions in developed and emerging markets continued to erode its market share.