Nokia, which has joined hands with Microsoft to face challenges posed by Google and other competitors, will restrict its use of IT giants Operating System (OS) and developer ecosystem for the feature rich smart phones for now.

The low-end phones, which are priced below Rs 6,000, would have S40 (Series 40) platform to let its users access web-based applications, Mr Jasmeet Gandhi, Head of Services Marketing and Devices, Nokia India, said.

Mr Gandhi was here in connection with the release of highlights of the study Internet usage through mobiles. Nokia partnered with research firm Nielson to conduct the survey in eight Indian cities, covering 3,000 mobile users.

The idea behind joining hands with Microsoft was to benefit from the huge ecosystem of developers that was built over a period of time to develop wide variety of applications. Scaling that down to hardware in the lower-end phones might not be possible for now.

Notwithstanding severe competition from both local players and multinationals, the company said it retained market share in both higher and lower categories. “The dual-sim phone model performed well. We have recently launched C203 and 206, the three-inch screen phones with touch and type options too have been received well,” Mr Gandhi said.

Survey

The Internet usage survey, Nokia claimed, showed that the company was a preferred brand for users in the age group of 15-35 years for accessing the Internet. The survey ‘benchmarked’ Nokia services against the four competing brands of Samsung, Micromax, GFive, Spice and Motorola.

“The survey found that Internet browsing and not email, chatting or social networking was the top habit for consumers using Internet on their mobile handsets. This was followed by email, chatting and social networking,” he said.

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