NEW DELHI—Nokia Corp.,
NOK1V.HE +0.30%
seeking to regain ground in smartphones, unveiled a $99 touch-screen model for India and other emerging markets.
Along with the Nokia Asha 501, the Finnish company also unveiled Thursday the Asha platform that will run on it. Nokia said it's designed to allow wider access to application developers.
Once the world's largest phone maker, Nokia has struggled to compete in the high-end smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc. AAPL +1.12% and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +1.81% Adding to its woes is stiff low-end competition from Chinese and Indian makers. India's Micromax Informatics Ltd. sells a smartphone for as little as $65. And Samsung has devices going for less than $110, making it an increasing threat in India for Nokia, which until last year had a dominant market share there.
With its leap into low-cost smartphones, Nokia is continuing its push to grow in fast-growing emerging markets despite fierce competition and razor-thin margins. With the Asha platform, it's also making a fresh push in smartphone operating systems, a market dominated by Apple's iOS and Google Inc.'s GOOG +1.88% Android. Despite its scale and relationship with carriers, Nokia hasn't been able to attract developers to create good native applications, and in 2011 it dropped its Symbian platform in favor of Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT -0.97% Windows.
"With the new Asha platform, developers will be incentivized to deliver those quality apps, previously found only on high-end smartphones, thanks to unprecedented volumes and reach opportunities through one distribution channel and a single platform," said Nokia head of developer experiences Marco Argenti in a statement.
Chief Executive Stephen Elop noted at the launch event in New Delhi Thursday that some analysts forecast the market for sub-$100 smartphones could be worth $40 billion in two years.
"The Asha 501 and Asha platform we believe will reinvent the affordable smartphone category," Mr. Elop said.
The device, initially built to support data services on basic 2G phone networks, will be "relevant to 80% of the world, particularly in the emerging markets," he said.
Nokia plans to begin selling the device in June. The $99 price tag excludes taxes and subsidies. The dual-SIM, 98-gram smartphone has a three-inch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a memory capacity of four gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes. Nokia, with an eye to emerging markets where electricity is scarce and there's high Internet usage by young people, claims the battery is good for 17 hours of talk time.
Analysts said the device could help Nokia regain its competitive edge against Samsung at the low end, and get a piece of the India's fast-growing market of consumers trading up from basic mobiles.
There were 170 million phones shipped to India in 2012, with Nokia's 26% share just ahead of Samsung's 22%, data from Singapore-based mobile research firm Canalys shows. World-wide in the fourth quarter, according to research firm Gartner, Nokia ranked second in the mobile-phone market, at 18%, down from 23.4% a year earlier. Samsung ranked first with 22.7%.
SOURCE : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323744604578472311649059522.html
Along with the Nokia Asha 501, the Finnish company also unveiled Thursday the Asha platform that will run on it. Nokia said it's designed to allow wider access to application developers.
Once the world's largest phone maker, Nokia has struggled to compete in the high-end smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc. AAPL +1.12% and Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +1.81% Adding to its woes is stiff low-end competition from Chinese and Indian makers. India's Micromax Informatics Ltd. sells a smartphone for as little as $65. And Samsung has devices going for less than $110, making it an increasing threat in India for Nokia, which until last year had a dominant market share there.
With its leap into low-cost smartphones, Nokia is continuing its push to grow in fast-growing emerging markets despite fierce competition and razor-thin margins. With the Asha platform, it's also making a fresh push in smartphone operating systems, a market dominated by Apple's iOS and Google Inc.'s GOOG +1.88% Android. Despite its scale and relationship with carriers, Nokia hasn't been able to attract developers to create good native applications, and in 2011 it dropped its Symbian platform in favor of Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT -0.97% Windows.
"With the new Asha platform, developers will be incentivized to deliver those quality apps, previously found only on high-end smartphones, thanks to unprecedented volumes and reach opportunities through one distribution channel and a single platform," said Nokia head of developer experiences Marco Argenti in a statement.
Chief Executive Stephen Elop noted at the launch event in New Delhi Thursday that some analysts forecast the market for sub-$100 smartphones could be worth $40 billion in two years.
"The Asha 501 and Asha platform we believe will reinvent the affordable smartphone category," Mr. Elop said.
The device, initially built to support data services on basic 2G phone networks, will be "relevant to 80% of the world, particularly in the emerging markets," he said.
Nokia plans to begin selling the device in June. The $99 price tag excludes taxes and subsidies. The dual-SIM, 98-gram smartphone has a three-inch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a memory capacity of four gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes. Nokia, with an eye to emerging markets where electricity is scarce and there's high Internet usage by young people, claims the battery is good for 17 hours of talk time.
Analysts said the device could help Nokia regain its competitive edge against Samsung at the low end, and get a piece of the India's fast-growing market of consumers trading up from basic mobiles.
There were 170 million phones shipped to India in 2012, with Nokia's 26% share just ahead of Samsung's 22%, data from Singapore-based mobile research firm Canalys shows. World-wide in the fourth quarter, according to research firm Gartner, Nokia ranked second in the mobile-phone market, at 18%, down from 23.4% a year earlier. Samsung ranked first with 22.7%.
SOURCE : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323744604578472311649059522.html
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