To tap 800 million potential users across the world, handset maker Nokia (News - Alert) unveiled seven entry-level mobile handsets. Aimed at first time users, the phones will be priced from Rs 2240-4800, excluding taxes and subsidies.
Nokia said on Thursday that the entry-level 1100 and its successors have surpassed the 200 million-unit milestone in sales. The company also unveiled seven new models, all priced below 100 euros ($136).
The company expects handset sales to exceed four billion by 2010 -- half of it coming from the Asia Pacific region, including India.
Nokia's 1200 and 1208 models offer call-time tracking and multiple phonebooks, the company said. To help manage airtime costs, the call-time tracking feature allows consumers and village phone entrepreneurs to preset a time or cost limit on individual calls, automatically ending the call after the limit has been reached, it said.
The Nokia 1200, with a monochrome screen, will be available this quarter with an estimated retail price of about $48 before subsidies or taxes. The Nokia 1208, with a color VGA screen, will be available in the third quarter of this year with an estimated retail price of $65, Nokia said.
Nokia also launched four other low-cost GSM phones, including the entry-level Nokia 1650 and Nokia 2660, and the Nokia 2630 and 2760 with features such as a built-in camera, an email client, an FM radio and Bluetooth connectivity.
The Nokia 1650 and 2660 will be available this quarter, priced at $75 and $115, respectively. The Nokia 2630 and Nokia 2760 will be available in the third quarter of this year, priced at $115 and $122, respectively.
The company also the Nokia 2505, an entry-level CDMA phone for the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, China and Latin America markets. Nokia did not disclose the pricing of this product.
"We have evidence that people who have got their first Nokia stay with Nokia," said Soren Petersen, head of entry business at Nokia's mobile phones unit. "Half of this growth would come from emerging markets, including India and China, and to grab this opportunity, the company is focusing on reducing the cost of handsets," he added.
Pradip Bhatacharya is a contributing writer for TMCnet.
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