As Apple's iPhone 4 makes strong headway in the global smartphone market, Nokia, once the market "dominator", is striving to regain its lost market share.

Nokia is back, and this time it's just unveiled its latest high-tech weapon, known as the N8.

Nokia launched its newest smartphone, equipped with the Symbian operating system, during the National Day Holiday on the mainland market. The phone is priced at around 6,000 yuan each. It's been barely a week since the high-profile launch of the iPhone 4, at the price of 4,999 yuan on the mainland market.

Nokia wants to use the N8 to help it regain relevance to global mobile phone consumers, and overcome Apple's dominance in the market. But observers say consumers simply aren't interested, and the market outlook for the company is sombre.

And when it rains, it pours...

Nokia announced earlier this week, the head of its operating system MeeGo, Ari Jaaski, is leaving. The announcement comes hot on the heels of last month's resignation of Anssi Vanjoki, who runs Nokia's smartphone unit.

Although the Finland-based company is still the world's largest handset maker, dominating 38 percent of the global market, its share price has slumped nearly 67 percent since the first iPhone hit the market in 2007.

Its market volume has shrank nearly 77 billion U.S. dollars, in the past four years.

Still, the company is optimistic - it expects it will regain its footing, after its trump card MeeGo operating system hits the market.

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