Nokia needs to speedily boost its offering of mobile internet solutions, marketing head Anssi Vanjoki told a German magazine and did not rule out a sale of its core handset manufacturing business in the long term.

Nokia, the No. 1 global cellphone maker, needs to catch up with the rivals Apple, Google and Blackberry-maker RIM in offering online solutions, Vanjoki was quoted as saying by weekly Wirtschaftswoche in an excerpt of an interview to be published on Monday.

Nokia's mobile-device factories offered an important competitive advantage but one should never say never should a sale at some point be warranted as part of Nokia's transformation, he was quoted as saying.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger)

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