Nokia Corp. is hitting the reset button on its U.S. operations from a place some would argue the struggling Finnish handset maker should have been years ago: Silicon Valley.

In posh Sunnyvale digs that could pass for an IKEA showroom, the company is looking to create the type of underdog culture that vaulted many of its competitors to recent success.

The location, occupied over a year ago, also lends proximity to a population of software developers that have been flocking to Apple Inc.'s iPhone or devices powered by Google Inc.'s Android software. Nokia hopes it can lure more apps for the Microsoft Corp. Windows software platform that Nokia has staked the future of its new Lumia smartphone lineup on.

On a recent workday here, software developers from outside firms flooded into a spacious lobby and were taken to conference rooms with names like Pier 39 and Alcatraz.

The ground-floor cafe sold Peets coffee and flank steak with pico de gallo, while a soccer match between England and the Ukraine played on a television. An overwhelming amount of staffers wore cowboy boots and bluejeans.

If the company's approach feels like overkill, it may be for good reason. For years, Nokia ran its North American arm in White Plains, N.Y., far from where the industry's key innovations were taking place.

When the company fell from dominance in the U.S., it was mainly due to products coming out of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple.

The results of the disconnection have been brutal. In 2003, the Nokia's sales of mobile phones in North America hit 32.4 million, or nearly 20% of the company's global volume.

By 2011, after the company essentially pulled out of the market due to uncompetitive technology, the company sold 3.9 million mobile devices, representing less than 1% of the company's global sales.

The slide has modestly reversed since launch of the Lumia phones under Chief Executive Stephen Elop through T-Mobile USA and AT Inc. in January and April, respectively.

Nokia sold 600,000 mobile devices in North America during the first quarter, compared with 500,000 in the fourth quarter. Revenue from these devices, meanwhile, was up 75% on a quarter over quarter basis thanks to higher price points.

Still, North American sales only represented 2% of Nokia's global total in the first three months of the year.

Matt Rothschild, head of retail and sales operations, said in an interview that relocating has given the workforce a 'start-up mentality, a challenger mind-set' in the critical U.S. market. Mr. Rothschild has recently tapped that enthusiasm by creating the 'Nokia Army.'

Under this plan, more than 1,000 North American employees have signed up to go to outlets selling Nokia phones, such as an AT store at a shopping mall. The effort has spanned from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Chicago.

Employees are usually armed with food and coffee, and work to bond with sales people and interact with potential phone buyers. Conversations often turn to the breadth of Nokia's apps, such as its navigation system, which comes free with the phone.

In some stores, such as a nearby T-Mobile store, Nokia staff would find their Lumia 710 smartphone had already been moved off the main display despite being a relatively new entrant in the market. In this store, phones from Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp. get the most prominent placement.

Nokia executives don't need to stray far from home to find people who have little interest in the company's new phones.

At the Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, about nine miles from Sunnyvale, Jonathan Lamb stood with his friends in line outside Microsoft's new store armed for battle.

An 18-year-old freshman at De Anza College, Mr. Lamb carried his iPhone and was preparing to participate in the store's marketing ploy. If he could prove his device was faster than Nokia's new Lumia 900, which uses the Windows operating system, he would win $1,000.

While he figured the Nokia phone would beat his best effort -- 'Nokia performance-wise is extremely fast' -- he wasn't remotely interested in abandoning his iPhone.

His device, he says, is easier to navigate, has more readily-available apps and gives more bang for the buck. The Windows phone, meanwhile, 'is dull.'

Kulvinder Hummel, a 39-year-old resident of Santa Cruz, Calif., meanwhile is weighing whether she wants to make the jump to a smartphone after years of talking on a Motorola Razr. She's considered the iPhone and the Nokia Lumia, but strongly leaning in the direction of the Apple product.

'If I go for it and just bite the bullet and do what everybody else is doing, I definitely think the iPhone is a safer bet,' she said.

Ms. Hummel is afraid that the Windows technology is a flash in the pan given her recollection of Microsoft's feeble attempt to take on Apple's iPod with its Zune portable digital-music player.

Mr. Rothschild, an Australian with 14 years Nokia experience, recently did his own stint in the company's new 'Army,' deciding to forgo a flight from Dallas to Atlanta, and instead drive through several states. On his first visit, he brought baked goods from Cinnabon.

He is also visiting with many developers at the company's site in Sunnyvale. Last weekend, for example, he hosted the chief executive of a golf technology company called Caddy Plus so they could discuss the visibility of the app in the Nokia/Microsoft ecosystem.

As part of its intensified focus on Silicon Valley, Nokia also made changes in the board room by recently appointing an outside director with strong Valley connections. Elizabeth Nelson, a former chief financial officer of Macromedia, was elected to Nokia's board during the May 3 annual meeting. Macromedia, a Web development software company, was acquired by Adobe Systems Inc. in 2005. She spent eight years at Hewlett-Packard Co. before joining Macromedia.

Nokia chose Ms. Nelson, now a professional director whose board seats previously included Autodesk Inc., partly because it wanted a greater West Coast presence, and the U.S. 'is a very important market for Nokia,'' recalled Will Dawkins, head of the U.K. board services practice for recruiters Spencer Stuart, which handled Nokia's board hunt.

John D. Stoll