Nokia claims strong launch for N-Gage

The first official statement from Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia on the launch of its N-Gage game deck has claimed that the device is sold out at many retailers following a "very positive" consumer response.

Commenting on the launch of the N-Gage in his statement on Nokia's recently announced third quarter results, Nokia chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila said that "many outlets sold out of the device during the first day of release… Following on from this, we are seeing strong order intake from distributors and retailers."

No official figures have been released as yet for the N-Gage's first week on sale, with the only confirmed figure we've seen being Chart-Track's tally for the number of handsets sold at UK games retailers - a somewhat dismal figure well below the 500 mark.

Nokia's third quarter figures showed the company continuing to grow its market share of the mobile phone business, although stiff competition from Asian manufacturers bringing cheaper devices to the market affected the Finnish giant's margins somewhat.

Mobile phone sales for the quarter were flat, at some €5.6 billion, but the company saw 23 per cent volume growth in the quarter, ahead of the industry growth of some 15 per cent. Nokia now estimates that it owns some 39 per cent of the mobile phone market as a whole.