Nokia closes its UK online store
Nokia will pull the plug on its UK online store as it continues to strip back its operations across Europe. It will not process any payments after 30 June. Nokia’s online stores have struggled to shift phones thanks to the hefty discounts offered when buying through a network operator. Most handsets are available free with a two year contract. Nokia also suffered a blow in yet another patent battle yesterday, when a court in London ruled a key patent held by a German company called IPCom was valid – though a spokesman for Nokia said the ruling would not affect its UK sales. Nokia received a rare piece of good fortune on Wednesday when Apple settled an ongoing patent row, agreeing to pay a one-off sum as well as contributing ongoing royalty fees. The sum is likely to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.