Reuters reports that Nokia is expected to launch several new phones next week including its first mass market flip phone in a long time, another attempt at creating a music-centric phone, possibly a lightweight smartphone for business users, and a couple of others.

Analysts are pooh poohing the announcements before they're made. This either means that they have inside information that I don't have, or they are expecting more of the same from a company that hasn't been setting the world on fire in terms of cutting edge design. You see this in the way Gartner analyzes Nokia's current product lineup.

I'm not expecting Nokia to announce anything shocking, but I think people are making a mistake by disrespecting them. The Nokia 6600 is considerably better than most North American journalists think. I believe that a lot of people are looking at the feature list, comparing it to other phones, and concluding it's nothing special. They should get one and use it, as I'm doing now.

On the other hand, there are indications that Nokia believes the criticism that it's receiving. They're aggressively discounting the 6600, the flagship of its smartphone line. Companies in a commanding position in the market don't often do that. However, for people who like the 6600, this is a great time to get one.