According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Nokia’s forthcoming Symbian^3-powered X7 smartphone for AT&T has been cancelled. Although this phone has not been officially announced by Nokia, Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin managed to leak some pics of the unannounced device, which looked to be boasting surround sound capabilities via four speakers and an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash.

 

The WSJ’s sources have revealed that the Finnish manufacturer has cancelled the U.S. launch of the smartphone, which would have been announced ahead of the 2011 Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month.

 

Nokia apparently followed this course of action as AT&T wasn’t going to give adequate subsidies- and marketing support for the X7 that it would require to succeed in the lucrative and competitive American market. Nokia still plans to launch the X7 in other markets though (not yet known if this includes South Africa) and will likely unveil the smartphone next month according to the WSJ.

 

This move leaves Nokia reliant on the N8 to carry its smartphone aspirations in the States, where it faces tough opposition from Apple’s iPhone and an army of Android powered smartphones such as the Motorola Droid 2 (Milestone 2 in SA).