Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, on Tuesday introduced its first handset for China’s home-grown 3G standard, following years of pressure and lobbying from the Chinese government and China Mobile, the country’s leading mobile operator .

China is shaping up as a new battleground for smartphones, with  Apple’s iPhone set to launch officially this Friday and China Mobile’s recent launch of an Android-based platform for customised smartphones developed by companies including Lenovo Mobile, HTC, LG and Dell.

Nokia’s move signals that it cannot afford not to have a device that supports TD-SCDMA – the standard treated as a pet project by the Chinese government but unloved by the telecoms industry – as it defends its leading position in the world’s largest mobile market.

The Nokia 6788, a bulky smartphone designed in Nokia’s Beijing product creation centre, would start shipping by the end of the year, said Olli Pekka Kallasvuo, chief executive.

Analysts believe that with its clunky size, conventional design and lingering consumer doubts about the stability of the TD network, the Nokia 6788 is not positioned to compete with devices such as the iPhone, but nevertheless is a necessary step to retaining government backing and close ties with China Mobile.

Nokia said this month that its market share in China in the third quarter had declined compared with the second quarter.

Its global market share was 38 per cent in the third quarter and its share of the Chinese market was “pretty much in line with that”, Mr Kallasvuo said.

Nokia faces competitive pressure from smartphones elsewhere in the world. The success of the iPhone and the emergence of open-source software platforms such as Google’s Android, have eaten into Nokia’s commanding market share.

The Chinese government ordered China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, to use TD in its 3G services.

But in spite of Beijing’s attempts to create a success story for homegrown innovation, handset makers have been slow to follow up with a broad range of devices because the technology is still unstable.

“Many were betting that we would sit out 3G and maybe start addressing TD in the 4G era,” said an executive at one foreign handset maker in China.

Lu Xiangdong, vice-president at China Mobile, said he hoped the availability of a Nokia handset would help his company sign up more TD users.

Wen Ku, a department director at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, welcomed Nokia’s new phone, but said: “One is not enough. We hope that you will give us another ten to 20 next year.”

Nokia has set up a 70-strong team in Beijing for developing TD handsets.