UAE consumers will be among the first in the world to be offered the Nokia N97, the Finnish company’s new top-of-the-line handset. Nokia hopes the N97 will become a direct competitor to the Apple iPhone, with the device including a large touch screen and deep integration with the internet.

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, each of the world’s major mobile manufacturers have announced or launched similar devices. The release of the N97 comes as mobile handset sales are falling at the fastest rate ever recorded. Sales of devices in the first quarter of this year were down by 15.8 per cent, according to the research firm, Strategy Analytics.

The slowdown in sales is being felt most strongly in the middle of the market, where consumers are delaying the purchase of new phones and choosing instead to keep their older handsets for longer. Sales of so-called smartphones, such as the RIM Blackberry or the Apple iPhone, have remained strong, with the research group IDC saying sales of the devices grew by 4 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

At a preview of the N97 in Dubai last week, Henri Mattila, Nokia’s head of marketing for Nseries handsets in the Middle East, said Gulf countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia would be among the first in the world to see the device. Focus groups and research panels were held among consumers in both countries during the development of the N97, in recognition of the importance of the markets for smartphone sales.