Software giant Microsoft has said it is looking at working with Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia to develop “next-generation” mobile devices.

“Our partnership with Nokia is an important step forward... The key there is not only to innovate on software, which we will work together over time, but also work on next-generation hardware innovations with them,” the Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Mr Steve Ballmer, told reporters here today.

He added that India would be a “priority market” for the company.

In February this year, Microsoft and Nokia announced the formation of a “broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem’’.

Nokia is the leader in the mobile handsets segment in India, which is also the world’s second-largest market after China.

Through the partnership, Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a wide range of price points, market segments and geographies, the companies had said.

Apart from using Microsoft’s Bing search engine across its devices and services, Nokia would also collaborate on joint marketing initiatives with Microsoft for the devices.