Nokia’s Windows Phone-based handsets will hit store-shelves before the end of this year, Finnish handset maker’s chief Stephen Elop confirmed.

In an interview with a Chinese publication, Mr. Elop said that Nokia's first Windows Phone devices would be available for purchase in the fourth quarter of 2011

The release time mentioned by Mr. Elop is in direct contrast with the view of a Nokia executive in Australasia, who had hinted that the first batch of Nokia’s Windows Phone handset would not go on sale until 2012.

But Mr. Elop explained that Nokia would launch its Windows Phone handsets country by country, with some countries slipping to 2012.

Nokia will also add entertainment and navigation features to their Windows Phones.

Speaking about the Windows Phone handsets, he said, "We believe it will be very successful because of the unique capabilities we are bringing from Nokia, the quality of the design, and the strength of our organization…”

Nokia, which has dumped its own mobile operating system, Symbian, in favor of Microsoft’s Windows Phone software, has high hopes from the new platform, but many experts believe that the renowned handset maker is putting all its eggs in one basket.