While Motorola wallows in the disappointing performance of its handset portfolio, leading rival Nokia must be feeling smug at the consumer demand building up for its flagship N95 device.

On Thursday, the Finnish vendor announced that the N95 has started shipping in key European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

The feature rich device has drummed up plenty of attention already, packing 3G HSDPA and wifi connectivity, a 5 megapixel camera, a two way slide design, integrated GPS and a boatload of multimedia capabilities.

UK mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse said it expects to have the device available for purchase on April 1. There is no word yet on pricing but Nokia expects the estimated unsubsidised retail price to be around the Eur550 mark.

Carphone Warehouse has already experienced a flood of requests for the phone and as a result is only selling one unit per customer.

With no release date yet penned in for the device in the US, the grey market is seeing plenty of action. Nokia N95’s are topping the $1200 mark almost as soon as they are listed on eBay’s US site, suggesting that by the time they sell, prices could be well above that.

Perhaps in anticipation of foul play or customers trying to buy more than one device in a bid to make a quick buck on the grey market, Carphone is only dispatching the devices to the registered credit or debit card holder’s address.