Trim Trend Eludes Nokia

Thin is in.

You name it -- TVs, iPods, cell phones. The consuming passion for superskinny tech goods is becoming a little obvious.

Yet the slimming trend isn't apparent in Nokia's (NOK) new phone lineup. With the exception of its $900 steel Zippo lighter-inspired 8800 model, the world's favorite handset maker looks to be getting another late start on a sweeping phone fashion.

The flattening of the phone world started over a year ago, when No. 2 Motorola (MOT) launched the ultra-thin Razr phone. Proving to be the right phone at the right time, Razr has helped Motorola to wrest away handset design leadership, with 6.5 million units shipped in the third quarter. The company expects to sell 20 million Razrs this year.

Hoping to build on that success, Motorola plans to have a new Razr available in the coming weeks for code division multiple access, or CDMA, telcos like Verizon Wireless and Sprint (S). And as a followup to the Razr, the Schaumburg, Ill., tech titan this year will launch a half-inch-thick phone called the Slvr. Motorola's newest phonetically spelled phone is about half as thick as Nokia's new 6233 flagship third-generation offering.

Industry observers spot a trend in the making. They point to thin imitations at Samsung, with its Blade phone coming to Sprint, and other challengers.

The growing fear is that Helsinki may be headed for a repeat of a troubling fashion misstep. Nokia, as you may recall, was caught out two winters ago peddling candy bar phones to people shopping for clam shell flip phones. That stubbornness cost Nokia market share and forced the company to rethink its design and production operations.

Nokia now offers about a dozen flip phones and has a considerable range of styles and features available in the 50-plus phones it has introduced this year.