NOKIA, Cambodia's leading brand of mobile-phone handsets based on total sales volume, launched a new 3G touchscreen smartphone in Cambodia at the weekend, its local partner said.

K Thong Huot Telecom, the Kingdom's sole distributor of Nokia phones, unveiled the N97 smartphone in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

Jonas Geust, vice president of Nokia and head of the Nokia N series, said in a press release this month that the Nokia N97 was an important step towards Nokia's vision of "delivering a highly personalised internet experience".

The press release also stated that Nokia N97 would offer instant access to the Ovi email service, and the handset would be available in more than 75 countries by the end of this month.

Thai Philippe from K Thong Huot Telecom said that although the company did not expect to sell many N97 handsets in Cambodia as it was not a target market, all Nokia product lines would be available.

Nokia is the leading brand of mobile phones in Cambodia in terms of market share. Though their low-cost mobile phone range is the most popular on the market, sales have faced a small decline in the wake of the financial crisis, Thai Philippe said, without giving detailed figures.

"People are saving more money now," he said. "Before they used to change their mobile every six months, but now they wait at least nine months to a year to change."