Nokia banks on budget phones to take on Samsung

 

Finnish handset major Nokia is banking on volumes from emerging markets, including India, to regain lost grounds to rival Samsung. 

 

"There is clearly an opportunity in India to go much broader in terms of volumes. A product like Lumia 520 is about bringing a Windows phone experience to much lower price points. It is about bringing innovation and aspiration from the high-end segment and delivering it at the lower-end. We are very proud of that because when we think as to who we are taking with these announcements - it is people from India and other emerging markets," its chief executive Stephen Elop told ET. 

 

At the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona, Nokia surprised market watchers by unveiling four lower-end phones — the Lumia 720, Lumia 520, Nokia 301 and Nokia 105 — indicating its plan to chase volumes. The change in strategy may also stem from Nokia's struggles to challenge the dominance of Samsung and Apple in the mature markets. 

 

While Samsung has long surpassed Nokia in the smartphones segment in India, the Finnish handset major, which still retains the No. 1 position in terms of volumes, has also been losing ground in feature phone segment - voice and text handsets - to local companies such as Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Spice among others and Chinese brands. Elop said the Nokia 105, which may be priced at a little over Rs 1,000 and boasts of a battery life of up to one month, and the Nokia 301, estimated to cost around Rs 4,500, will help the company strengthen its position among the budget consumers. 

 

The Nokia 105 will replace the company's 1280 model, which, according to Elop, had sold more than 100 million units. Similarly, the Lumia 520, with a retail price under Rs 10,000, is the cheapest Windows smartphone unveiled by Nokia, and is expected to boost volumes for the struggling handset giant. The Nokia chief executive added that the company is looking to 'connect the next billion' to the internet, a bulk of which will be from India, on its cheaper range of smartphones.