Nokia’s Series 40 line of mobile phones has reached an important milestone.

The mobile company today announced that it sold the 1.5 billionth Nokia Series 40 phone in San Paulo, Brazil. The device, an Asha 303, was sold to 21-year-old Mayara Rodrigues, who wants to use the phone to keep “in touch with friends and family through social networks,” Nokia said. The Asha 303 boasts a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard and comes preinstalled with Angry Birds Lite.

That handset is a far cry from the first Series 40 phone Nokia launched in 1999. Dubbed the Nokia 7110, the device had a spring-loaded cover over a standard numeric keypad. “Send” and “End” buttons above the keypad were just below two input buttons to interact with the device’s software. Speaking of the software, it came with a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser and messaging features.

Nokia is expected to release its quarterly earnings tomorrow, and this announcement might be designed to offer a glimmer of hope to shareholders who watch, with envy, as Apple post huge financials. Just yesterday, Apple announced that it sold a record-breaking 37.04 million iPhones worldwide during the fourth quarter.