Nokia to launch colour phone at entry level

Nokia, which is facing a tough challenge from low-cost mobile players in India and elsewhere, will be coming out with a basic colour phone priced at about Rs 1,200 this month.

This would signal the end of black-and-white phones from the Finnish firm.

The company will manufacture the new phones at its Chennai facility for the domestic and global markets.

“We are specifically looking at India, Africa and China where there is huge scope in the entry-level market. In India, we are going to introduce the phone in Andhra Pradesh this month followed by other markets. We are planning to phase out the 1280 phone of which we have sold 10 crore pieces,” T. S. Sridhar (Regional General Manager South) of Nokia India, told

Business Line . The new phone Nokia 105, showcased at the Mobile World Congress-2013 held at Barcelona, will target those who are yet to have a mobile connection. To catch their attention, the phone comes with a battery back-up of 35 days. It has a ‘speaking clock’ too.

Phones below Rs 4,000 rule

Quoting a GFK Nielsen study, Sridhar said the sub-Rs 2,000 phone market in India by volume accounted for 60 per cent of the 1.3 crore phone sales. About 85 per cent of sales were of phones priced below Rs 4,000.

According to research firm CMR, Nokia is the leader in feature phones with a share of 21.8 per cent in the total market of 20.64 crore units in this segment in 2012. This segment continues to dominate the handset industry that witnessed 22 crore shipments that year. It, however, trailed in the smartphone segment at 13.3 per cent. Samsung led with 43.1 per cent in a market of 1.5 crore units.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in