Nokia pondering its first laptop

While its fortunes have faded in the States, Nokia remains a powerhouse overseas in the cell phone market. Now the company -- which remains the top mobile phone maker in the world -- is looking at muscling its way into the laptop business, as its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo officially admitted for the first time this week, saying the company was "looking very actively" at the move.

This would be the first major new entrant into the laptop market in even distant memory, with the exception of Samsung, which tiptoed into the U.S. market late last year. But overall, the laptop business, as with the entirety of the PC industry, has seen consolidation and brands dwindling away in recent years, as margins have been squeezed heavily.

Still, many manufacturers -- spurred, perhaps, by Apple's success in the mobile phone space -- seem to be thinking that it makes sense to have a presence across the mobile universe, with both a laptop and cell phone that can be used as companion devices. The Reuters story linked above reminds us that Acer launched eight mobile phone models last week, and rumor has been riding high that Dell will be following suit with its first smartphone sometime this year.

As Nokia is known for both very inexpensive and bare-bones cell phones as well as high-end powerhouse smartphones that cost a week's salary, no one's quite sure what form a Nokia-branded laptop might take. A cheap netbook designed to offer a cell-phone-like experience but with a bigger keyboard and screen (maybe a juiced-up revision of its Internet Tablet series, pictured above)? Or a deluxe model with all the bells and whistles, meant to cement Nokia's positioning as a luxury brand?

My guess: Maybe both.

Ben Patterson has additional perspective.