NEW YORK (AP) — Lending support to two companies struggling to make a comeback in smartphones, AT&T Inc. said Thursday it will be selling Nokia smartphones that run Windows Phone 8, Microsoft’s upcoming software release.

The phones are a critical part of Nokia Corp.’s attempt to stem its rapid decline from the position as the world’s largest maker of phones. The Finnish company’s presence in the U.S. market has been very small in recent years, but AT&T and T-Mobile have been selling Nokia’s earlier Windows Phones.