DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) will begin selling its high-end Lumia 900 smartphone in the U.S. next month for $99.99, a critical offering from the beleaguered mobile-phone giant. Nokia is currently in the midst of a turnaround plan that saw it partner last year with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) to use Windows software in its handsets. After fumbling the smartphone revolution, the Finnish company today has virtually no presence in the high-end U.S. smartphone market. How the Lumia 900, which will be exclusively sold by AT&T Inc. (T) in North America, is received will offer the first signs of whether Nokia can gain traction in the U.S. Nokia introduced the phone earlier this year at the closely-watched Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, though didn't disclose the price at the time. The phone will be available for pre-order starting Friday. Sales of Nokia's initial Windows products, launched this past October in Europe, have been mixed, according to analysts. Nokia in January reported it swung to a loss of EUR1.07 billion ($1.4 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of EUR745 million in the year-earlier quarter. Nokia's results were dragged down by EUR1.43 billion in charges and write-downs. The company posted EUR10 billion in sales, down 21% from a year earlier. U.S.-listed shares were recently up 1.1% to $5.35. -By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3207; mia.lamar@dowjones.com
