If Nokia was previously unaware just how hard its smartphone business is being hit by its competitors in western markets, it appears to have been enlightened now.

Indeed, so competitive is the smartphone race that Nokia has revised its Q2 2010 and full year net sales projections due to the actions of its rivals.

As such, Nokia now expects its devices and services division to hit sales towards the lower end of its previously predicted range of €6.7 billion to €7.2 billion in Q2.

The giant also claims it has had to abandon its target of expanding its share of the wider mobile device market, with Nokia admitting its slice of the cake is likely to be lower than in 2009.

Keeping competitive

Across the board, Nokia cites an almost unexpected level of competition in the high-end of the mobile market.

Though the Finnish firm can still claim to be top dog on a global scale, Nokia's smartphone presence in the US is virtually non-existent, while in Europe iPhone has made inroads in previously stable Nokia heartlands.

The N8 continues to be Nokia's great smartphone hope - although as we previously reported, chatter suggests some developers are reluctant to work on apps for the device due to fears over its long-term future.

While N8 will run Symbian^3, Nokia also has hopes for its own smartphone OS MeeGo, which it's currently developing with Intel.

Nokia will report its Q2 results on July 22nd.