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Rumor has it Nokia may have its eyes set on buying Research In Motion (RIM), the top mobile e-mail provider and one of the leading smartphone and cellular-wireless handheld providers.

Previously, it was thought that the world’s largest mobile phone and smartphone vendor in the world had Palm in its sights. Palm apparently bought itself some time yesterday, however (at least when it comes to acquisition rumors), when it was announced that it sold a 25 percent stake in the company to a private equity firm.

Unlike in the rest of the world, Nokia has had trouble gaining a foothold in the North American smartphone market; a region Palm has been particularly successful with its line of Treo smartphones.

North America is also RIM’s strongest market. RIM is also extremely strong in the business and enterprise markets, another area Nokia doesn't perform as well as it would like.

Of all its smartphones, Nokia’s Eseries are the models that compete most directly with RIM’s BlackBerry handhelds and smartphones; particularly the Finnish phone makers E61 and E62 models, which sport QWERTY thumb-keyboards and are tablet-shaped like a traditional BlackBerry. AT&T sells the E62, but its sales pale compared to the carrier’s BlackBerrys, for example.

RIM executives have often stated the Canadian company is not for sale.