BARCELONA—Top cellphone maker Nokia will use Qualcomm's chips in its advanced cellphones, the firms said on Tuesday (Feb. 17), marking a further warming of ties between the former courtroom rivals.

The cooperation gives Qualcomm access to a major share of the smartphone market, while it enables Nokia to further lower production costs.

"In the end of the day Qualcomm needs Nokia as much as Nokia needs Qualcomm," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

The deal marks the first time Nokia will use Qualcomm chipsets in its 3G phones, and brings the firms closer together after years of bitter disputes over intellectual property rights and royalty payments.

"We are very very excited about this opportunity," Andrew Gilbert, the head of Qualcomm's European business told Reuters in an interview. "We are going to compete for as much of their business as we can."

Nokia's key suppliers of 3G chipsets have been Texas Instruments and STMicro, which has spun off wireless chips into a joint venture with Ericsson.

Nokia and the new ST-Ericsson venture said on Tuesday they would cooperate on providing ST-Ericsson's U8500 chips for 3G smartphones using Symbian foundation software.

Nokia said on Tuesday it had tapped also Broadcom, its current supplier of second-generation technology chips, to supply 3G chipsets.