Intel Corporation announced a technology partnership with Nokia, which could enable the leading chip maker to make a foray into the mobile market. The companies would work together on a new class of mobile computing devices. 

Experts believe that the deal is important for Intel because it has the world’s top mobile phone maker as the client. But it has to be seen if the products would find favour with the customers. The companies did not give any details about when the products would be launched.

Jon Erensen, Gartner analyst, said that this partnership would be an opportunity for Intel to make way into the smartphone market and a chance to compete with leading mobile chip makers like Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

Intel had said earlier this month that it would buy Wind River Systems Inc, whose software connects devices manufactured by Apple, Samsung, HP, and Motorola. Intel is already working with LG Electronics on mobile devices. The deal with Nokia is a bigger step forward. Paul Otellini, Chief Executive of Intel, said that handheld, netbook, and embedded markets would be as big as PC market in future.

Under the current deal, Intel would buy intellectual property from Nokia relating to high-speed wireless technology. The company is also planning to team up with open-source Linux projects, which could compete with Google’s Android in the mobile internet device market.

Intel and Nokia said they would aim at defining a novel platform for mobiles beyond today’s smartphones. They insisted the deal was about the collaboration of technology and not about specific products.