According to a recent Reuters report, Nokia has lowered its original target number of released N-Gage titles for 2004, first scheduled to be between 50 and 100 games, to just 40 titles. Speaking at the Nokia Connection 2004 event in Helsinki today, Nokia's chief strategy officer Matti Alahuhta stated that there will be a total of 40 games available "for the Christmas market," which includes the 20 or so titles available now.

　　Having acknowledged that sales of its original N-Gage game deck have fallen short of expectations as a result of its poor design, Nokia has recently started shipping a revamped and less expensive version of the phone, named the N-Gage QD, in Europe. The N-Gage QD is currently scheduled for release in Canada on June 29, while its launch has been delayed until July 27 in the US.

　　[UPDATE} After posting this story yesterday, we were contacted by Steven Knuff of Nokia, who assured us that Nokia still plans to have at least 50 titles available for the N-Gage by Christmas. Chief strategy officer Matti Alahuhta, we're told, "misspoke during his presentation."