Nokia and Microsoft Corp aim at benefiting from the imposed ban on Samsung smartphone sales in the U. S. in the patent lawsuit between Apple and Samsung, the jury awarded $1 billion to Apple Inc on 24 August with the verdict that found Samsung infringed on six of seven patents for mobile devices.

Carolina Milanesi of the research firm Gartner Inc. said, “I am sure that vendors in the Android ecosystem are wondering how long it will be before they become Apple’s target. This might sway some vendors to look at Windows Phone 8 as an alternative, and for the ones like HTC Corp. (2498) and even Samsung, who have already announced plans to bring to market a WP8 device, how much stronger their investment should be.” Nokia decided to become partners with Microsoft last year after jettisoning its aging Symbian platform that had failed to keep up with Apple’s iPhone and other Android devices. Nokia’s global mobile-phone market share slumped to 20 percent last quarter from 23 percent a year earlier.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. will largely miss an opportunity to benefit because the first of the new BlackBerry 10 phones it’s counting on to win sales won’t arrive until next year’s first quarter. Microsoft has won orders that banned U. S. imports of some Motorola devices and limits on sales of some of the company’s products in Germany.