Showing posts with label Nokia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nokia. Show all posts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Nokia announced new additions to its Symbian 3 family
Nokia announced new additions to its Symbian^3 family of devices at the ongoing Nokia World in London. The announcement of the three new models takes the Symbian^3 device count to four.
Joining the Nokia N8, announced in April this year, are the Nokia E7 and two new entrants to the C series - C6-01 and C7.
The Nokia E7 is a business device boasts of a 4-inch touchscreen display and a slide out four-row keyboard. The E7 comes with an 8 megapixel camera and 16GB of on-board storage. The device is able to shoot and edit 720p video.
The business features of the E7 include support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Mail for Exchange, Microsoft Communicator Mobile and Microsoft Share Point Server.
With 18 days of standby time and up to 9 hours of talktime, the E7 is expected be available by the end of 2010 at a price of € 495 (Rs 29,500).
The new entrant to Nokia's C-family, the C7 has a 3.5-inch AMOLED and comes with an 8 megapixel camera along with 8GB of onboard storage. The C7 is expected to be priced at about € 335 (Rs 20,000).
The compact Nokia C6-01 also has an 8 megapixel camera. The device with a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and has the Nokia ClearBlack technology, also used in the E7, for improved outdoor visibility. The C6-01 is expected to be available for € 260 (Rs 15,500).
Nokia is in the middle of a major management revamp, with the departures of its chief executive and chairman announced last week and its top internal candidate for the CEO post resigning on Monday.
Nokia still controls around 40 percent of the global smartphone market volume, but has lost out to Apple and Research in Motion's Blackberry in the fatter-margin market for the most expensive cellphone models.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
iPhone Hobbled by High Prices in Japan, Lack of 3G in India
Apple's iPhone may be giving competitors a run for their money in North America but when it comes to three of the biggest telecom markets in Asia — Japan, India and China — the company seems to be coming up lame.
The latest sales figures suggest the Jesus phone is struggling to find new converts in Japan. Not far away in India (the second largest telecom market after China) sales of the device are also lackluster thanks to prices that are pushing seven Benjamins for the entry level 8-GB version. And Apple has yet to finalize a deal with Chinese telecom carrier, China Mobile, to bring the iPhone to the People’s Republic.
A combination of high pricing and a marketing strategy that fails to take into account the needs of local markets has left Apple selling just a few hundred thousand units in countries where millions of other phones are sold every month.
Take India, one of Asia's fastest-growing telecom markets. Between 2006 and 2007, sales of smartphones within the nation grew an estimated 31.4 percent. The data-centric convergence device segment exploded at 89 percent, while voice-centric devices shot up by 26.3 percent. As of July 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reported total wireless subscribers of about 296 million. About 9.2 million subscribers were added in July alone.
Nokia is the market leader in India but other players like Research In Motion (makers of Ur-smartphone BlackBerry), HTC and Sony Ericsson are gaining traction. But not Apple.
It isn't for lack of interest in the iPhone, says Naveen Mishra, an analyst at IDC India.
Apple's brand and the iPhone's design have captivated Indian consumers but the high cost of the device and the lack of a nationwide 3G network has kept away users from buying the phone.
"The iPhone has a large fan following," says Mishra, "but when it comes to buying the device not a lot of people want to spend that kind of money."
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the 3G iPhone with the promise of $199 price tag at which it retails in the United States along with a two-year contract with the service provider.
But in India the device has been priced much higher at 31,000 Rupees ($673) for the 8-GB version and 36,100 Rupees ($785) for the 16-GB model.
The reason for the higher cost? Wireless customers in India flat out refuse to sign legally binding mobile phone contracts. Because they’re not obligated to stick with a service provider, handsets on the subcontinent are always full priced, never subsidized.
The iPhone's limited availability through a contract with just two mobile service operators has cramped sales, says Mishra.
Unlike the United States, India's telecom market is skewed in favor of prepaid users, who comprise at least 70 percent of total cellphone users in the country.
Most cellphone users in India buy their handsets from a retail store and activate it with the carrier of their choice; cellphones are generally sold unlocked.
The iPhone is the exception. It is currently available only on Airtel and Vodafone leaving potential iPhone buyers with limited options. India does not offer number portability and switching carriers means existing users could lose their phone number as they move to a new carrier.
India also does not have the 3G … yet. Analysts expect the first 3G networks in the country to be available mid-2009.
For the iPhone in India, sales are unlikely to pick up unless the service providers slash the price of the device, make it available through retail stores and launch their 3G network, says Mishra.
"There's going to be very limited uptake for the device unless the carriers do one or all of these things," says Mishra.
Despite weak sales, it is unlikely Apple will push for significant price cuts in the country, say analysts. "Apple throughout its family is willing to forgo large market share for profitable market share," says Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.
Meanwhile in Japan, Apple has partnered with Softbank, Japan's third-largest mobile service provider to sell the iPhone 3G. After the initial buzz, demand for the iPhone has fallen to a third of what it was as users cringe at the high cost of ownership for the phone and the unavailability of some features, says a report in The Wall Street Journal.
As for China, despite speculation, Apple seems no closer to signing a deal with China Mobile to offer the iPhone 3G in the market.
For Apple, it may be time to take a closer look at its business in Asia. Unless the company can move swiftly to change its strategy, it may find itself locked out of the largest telecom markets of the world.
The latest sales figures suggest the Jesus phone is struggling to find new converts in Japan. Not far away in India (the second largest telecom market after China) sales of the device are also lackluster thanks to prices that are pushing seven Benjamins for the entry level 8-GB version. And Apple has yet to finalize a deal with Chinese telecom carrier, China Mobile, to bring the iPhone to the People’s Republic.
A combination of high pricing and a marketing strategy that fails to take into account the needs of local markets has left Apple selling just a few hundred thousand units in countries where millions of other phones are sold every month.
Take India, one of Asia's fastest-growing telecom markets. Between 2006 and 2007, sales of smartphones within the nation grew an estimated 31.4 percent. The data-centric convergence device segment exploded at 89 percent, while voice-centric devices shot up by 26.3 percent. As of July 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reported total wireless subscribers of about 296 million. About 9.2 million subscribers were added in July alone.
Nokia is the market leader in India but other players like Research In Motion (makers of Ur-smartphone BlackBerry), HTC and Sony Ericsson are gaining traction. But not Apple.
It isn't for lack of interest in the iPhone, says Naveen Mishra, an analyst at IDC India.
Apple's brand and the iPhone's design have captivated Indian consumers but the high cost of the device and the lack of a nationwide 3G network has kept away users from buying the phone.
"The iPhone has a large fan following," says Mishra, "but when it comes to buying the device not a lot of people want to spend that kind of money."
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the 3G iPhone with the promise of $199 price tag at which it retails in the United States along with a two-year contract with the service provider.
But in India the device has been priced much higher at 31,000 Rupees ($673) for the 8-GB version and 36,100 Rupees ($785) for the 16-GB model.
The reason for the higher cost? Wireless customers in India flat out refuse to sign legally binding mobile phone contracts. Because they’re not obligated to stick with a service provider, handsets on the subcontinent are always full priced, never subsidized.
The iPhone's limited availability through a contract with just two mobile service operators has cramped sales, says Mishra.
Unlike the United States, India's telecom market is skewed in favor of prepaid users, who comprise at least 70 percent of total cellphone users in the country.
Most cellphone users in India buy their handsets from a retail store and activate it with the carrier of their choice; cellphones are generally sold unlocked.
The iPhone is the exception. It is currently available only on Airtel and Vodafone leaving potential iPhone buyers with limited options. India does not offer number portability and switching carriers means existing users could lose their phone number as they move to a new carrier.
India also does not have the 3G … yet. Analysts expect the first 3G networks in the country to be available mid-2009.
For the iPhone in India, sales are unlikely to pick up unless the service providers slash the price of the device, make it available through retail stores and launch their 3G network, says Mishra.
"There's going to be very limited uptake for the device unless the carriers do one or all of these things," says Mishra.
Despite weak sales, it is unlikely Apple will push for significant price cuts in the country, say analysts. "Apple throughout its family is willing to forgo large market share for profitable market share," says Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research.
Meanwhile in Japan, Apple has partnered with Softbank, Japan's third-largest mobile service provider to sell the iPhone 3G. After the initial buzz, demand for the iPhone has fallen to a third of what it was as users cringe at the high cost of ownership for the phone and the unavailability of some features, says a report in The Wall Street Journal.
As for China, despite speculation, Apple seems no closer to signing a deal with China Mobile to offer the iPhone 3G in the market.
For Apple, it may be time to take a closer look at its business in Asia. Unless the company can move swiftly to change its strategy, it may find itself locked out of the largest telecom markets of the world.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Nokia launches five new Ultimate mobile phones
Nokia Life Tools, the service which gives consumers in small towns and rural areas the ability to get a range of livelihood and life-improvement services on their mobile phones, will launch in Indonesia in early December 2009. Nokia also announced five new affordable and easy-to-use phones which will support Nokia Life Tools, and these phones will also be available globally.
“Following the successful launch of Nokia Life Tools in India, where people are getting the benefits of vital information sent directly to their mobile phones, we are pleased to bring this service toconsumers in Indonesia,” said Dieter May, Vice President, Emerging Markets, Nokia. “Inform, Involve, Empower -- the vision of Nokia Life Tools -- applies no matter where it’s implemented. With the number of devices that Nokia Life Tools supports, including the five new phones we are announcing today, we are giving people the solution that suits them the most.”
Five new mobile phones designed for consumers in emerging markets
With affordability and ease of use as the cornerstones of solutions for emerging markets, the five new Nokia phones -- Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 -- support Nokia Life Tools, and bring with them all the features that consumers around the world have come to expect.
Priced at EUR 20, EUR 24 and EUR 26 respectively (before taxes and subsidies), the Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1800 support FM radio, prepaid tracker, flashlight, anti-scratch cover and dust-resistant keymat, among other features. The long battery life, with up to 22 days of standby time, is vital for people in areas where access to electricity is limited.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones
The Nokia 2220 slide and the Nokia 2690, priced at EUR 45 and EUR 54 (before taxes and subsidies), also support email on the device through Ovi Mail, giving people in developing markets their first digital identity directly from their handsets. Ovi Mail accounts can be created on the device and people can start sending and receiving emails without ever needing a PC. Other device features include FM radio, VGA camera, GPRS and MMS support, phone books for up to 1,000 contacts, and Bluetooth. Standby times for theNokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 are about 20 days and 13 days respectively.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones
The first of the five new mobile phones will begin shipping before the end of 2009, with others expected to start shipping in the first half of 2010.
Nokia Life Tools in Indonesia
Nokia Life Tools will be available across Indonesia from early December 2009, with the Agriculture service available for Java and Sumatra at the first stage, and Education and Entertainment services available nation-wide.
Consumers will be able to subscribe to Agriculture, Education and Entertainment information and content. Nokia is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture (Departemen Pertanian Republik Indonesia), the Center of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), Synovate and other industry partners to bring valuable agriculture information, prices, news and tips directly toconsumers.
The Agriculture service will be available for commodities beginning with crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries. Consumers will be able to subscribe to three of the most commonly grown commodities in their region. Also included in the Agriculture component are weather services, price services, and frequent agriculture news and tips.
The Education service features Learn English, General Knowledge and Test Preparation. Learn English has three levels of expertise with focus on English language fundamentals. General Knowledge will be primarily related to the province where one lives, as well as containing information at the national and international levels. Test Preparation will offer services at the Junior High School and Senior High School levels.
The Entertainment service features a range of mobile entertainment content, including news, music, comics, jokes, astrology, movie news and reviews. The content will be available toconsumers via subscription and/or on-demand.
At launch, customers of Telkomsel, Indosat, XL and Hutch (3) will be able to subscribe to Nokia Life Tools services. Nokia Life Tools will first be available on the Nokia 2323 classic, Nokia 2330 classic and Nokia 2700 classic in Indonesia. Aside from the 11 handsets which will come pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools, the service will become downloadable on more phones later.
Nokia Life Tools services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which displays information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface that comes out of the box on all Life Tools-enabled handsets, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
With affordability and ease of use as the cornerstones of solutions for emerging markets, the five new Nokia phones -- Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 -- support Nokia Life Tools, and bring with them all the features that consumers around the world have come to expect.
Priced at EUR 20, EUR 24 and EUR 26 respectively (before taxes and subsidies), the Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1800 support FM radio, prepaid tracker, flashlight, anti-scratch cover and dust-resistant keymat, among other features. The long battery life, with up to 22 days of standby time, is vital for people in areas where access to electricity is limited.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones
The Nokia 2220 slide and the Nokia 2690, priced at EUR 45 and EUR 54 (before taxes and subsidies), also support email on the device through Ovi Mail, giving people in developing markets their first digital identity directly from their handsets. Ovi Mail accounts can be created on the device and people can start sending and receiving emails without ever needing a PC. Other device features include FM radio, VGA camera, GPRS and MMS support, phone books for up to 1,000 contacts, and Bluetooth. Standby times for theNokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 are about 20 days and 13 days respectively.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones
The first of the five new mobile phones will begin shipping before the end of 2009, with others expected to start shipping in the first half of 2010.
Nokia Life Tools in Indonesia
Nokia Life Tools will be available across Indonesia from early December 2009, with the Agriculture service available for Java and Sumatra at the first stage, and Education and Entertainment services available nation-wide.
Consumers will be able to subscribe to Agriculture, Education and Entertainment information and content. Nokia is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture (Departemen Pertanian Republik Indonesia), the Center of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), Synovate and other industry partners to bring valuable agriculture information, prices, news and tips directly toconsumers.
The Agriculture service will be available for commodities beginning with crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries. Consumers will be able to subscribe to three of the most commonly grown commodities in their region. Also included in the Agriculture component are weather services, price services, and frequent agriculture news and tips.
The Education service features Learn English, General Knowledge and Test Preparation. Learn English has three levels of expertise with focus on English language fundamentals. General Knowledge will be primarily related to the province where one lives, as well as containing information at the national and international levels. Test Preparation will offer services at the Junior High School and Senior High School levels.
The Entertainment service features a range of mobile entertainment content, including news, music, comics, jokes, astrology, movie news and reviews. The content will be available toconsumers via subscription and/or on-demand.
At launch, customers of Telkomsel, Indosat, XL and Hutch (3) will be able to subscribe to Nokia Life Tools services. Nokia Life Tools will first be available on the Nokia 2323 classic, Nokia 2330 classic and Nokia 2700 classic in Indonesia. Aside from the 11 handsets which will come pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools, the service will become downloadable on more phones later.
Nokia Life Tools services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which displays information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface that comes out of the box on all Life Tools-enabled handsets, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Nokia warns against growth expectations for handsets
Nokia sees profits drop 66% as competition and cost-cutting undermine its promise to strengthen market share
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has warned that it will not increase its share of the handset market this year because of fierce competition. The Finnish technology company also said its profit margins will continue to come under pressure as it battles the impact of the global recession.
Nokia today announced a 66% drop in second quarter profits to €380m (£326m), sending shares down almost 10%. The company, which makes roughly four out of every 10 phones sold worldwide, had previously reassured investors that it would strengthen its dominance in the market this year.
Nokia also said it now expects profit margins in its mobile phone business in the second half of the year to be the same as the 10.3% recorded in the first six months. It had originally promised margins of at least 13%.
There was some relief, however, as Nokia reiterated its forecast that the overall mobile phone market will only fall 10% this year, to just over a billion devices, having cut its forecast twice in the past nine months.
Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the company had "put in a solid performance" during a "tough quarter" and signalled that conditions show some signs of improvement as retailers and mobile phone networks have run down their stocks of phones and are ordering again. "Competition remains intense, but demand in the overall mobile device market appears to be bottoming out," he said.
The Finnish company, which is cutting jobs as it looks to reduce costs, has suffered as cash-strapped consumers hold on to their existing handsets and opt for cheap SIM-only deals, leading to a dramatic drop in sales of mid-range phones. Sales in emerging markets have also been falling as a result of the economic turmoil, with consumers looking for ever cheaper phones.
Businesses are also reining in their spending and laying off staff, which has had an impact on sales at Nokia as a major supplier to corporate customers. Meanwhile, many consumers in more developed markets who are willing to sign up to another long-term contract have been looking for a so-called smartphone such as the Apple iPhone or BlackBerry Storm in return.
Nokia said the average price of its phones in the second quarter was €62, down from €74 last year and €65 in the first quarter as a result of intense competition and higher sales of lower-priced products.
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The smartphone threat
Nokia has been playing catch-up in the smartphone category, where the iPhone has made touchscreens all the rage. Its first mass-market touchscreen device, the Nokia 5800, was launched last year and has been selling well and Nokia recently expanded its touchscreen range with the release of the N97, which comes with a slide-out qwerty keyboard. The company sold 3.7m 5800s in the second quarter, meaning more than 6.8m have shipped since launch. Nokia did not separate sales of the N97, saying only that total shipments of its N-series phones – which include other devices such as the N96 and N95 – were 4.6m in the quarter and it sold 4.7m of its E-series business devices, such as the E71 which is aimed at business people who are used to using a BlackBerry.
In the three months to end June, Nokia shipped a total of 103.2m phones, down 15% year on year and 11% on the first quarter, while the industry as a whole shipped an estimated 268m phones, down 12% year on year and a decrease of 5% on the first quarter. Nokia reckons shipments of smartphones – or "converged mobile devices" as the company calls them – increased to 41m units in the second quarter from 36m in the first quarter. Nokia shipped 16.9m smartphones compared with 13.7m in the first quarter of the year, giving it a 41% share of the market.
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Sony Ericsson struggles
The news came as ailing rival Sony Ericsson announced a loss for the same period – its fourth consecutive quarterly loss – as it continued to lose market share to rivals such as Samsung, HTC and Apple. The joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson and Sony of Japan made a loss of €213m for the three months to the end of June compared with a profit of €6m last year.
The company, which is looking to slash costs by cutting 2,000 jobs on top of the 2,000 that went last year, shipped 13.8m phones in the quarter, down 43% on the same period last year, giving it a 5% share of the market. That is down from 6% in the first quarter of 2009.
"As expected, the second quarter was challenging and we still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson," said the firm's president Dick Komiyama. "Our focus remains on bringing the company back to profitability and growth as quickly as possible, and our performance is starting to improve due to our cost-reduction activities."
The company also hopes that new devices to be launched this year will help it increase sales and raise its market share. Its recently launched W995 is selling well, but gadget fans are eagerly awaiting its first phone using Google's Android platform, a touchscreen device apparently codenamed 'Rachael'.
There is intense speculation that Nokia is also working on a phone that uses Google's Android operating system, although a spokeswoman for the Finnish company stressed that there is "no truth" to the rumours and Symbian, the software joint venture that Nokia bought out last year, remains its "platform of choice for smartphones".
There has also been a lot of buzz about another Sony Ericsson device – nicknamed Kiki – with pictures on the internet showing that the phone has a revolutionary see-through screen. One phone that definitely will be out later this year, however, is the Satio, which has a mammoth 12.1 megapixel camera and was unveiled earlier this year under the Idou code name.
But IHS Global Insight telecoms analyst Peter Boyland pointed out that the average selling price of Sony Ericsson's phones – at €122, up from €116 in the second quarter of 2008 – "is still well above that of its key rivals, and its smartphone portfolio has not gained enough traction to justify this".
"Sony Ericsson has been hit by a double whammy of a drop in consumer spend, and a loss of interest in the company's high-end, often niche handsets, which have seen particularly sluggish take-up in emerging regions such as Latin America," he added. "The joint venture has also been criticised for dragging its feet in its entry to the smartphone market, allowing key rivals such as Apple, Palm and RIM's BlackBerry to leap ahead."
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Nokia Sues Apple Over iPhone
The suit claims the iPhone infringes on 10 Nokia patents involving wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.Nokia has filed patent infringement litigation against Apple, charging that the iPhone infringes on several Nokia patents.
The litigation, which involves 10 patents, was filed, on Thursday in the Federal District Court in Delaware. The patents at issue, Nokia said, involve GSM, UMTS (3G WCDMA), and wireless LAN standards. “The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for,” said Ilkka
Rahnasto, Nokia VP of legal and intellectual property, in a statement. “Apple is also expected to follow this principle. By refusing to agree [to] appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation.” Apple did not immediately respond to reports about the Nokia complaint.
The litigation is just the latest in the mobile industry, which has been racked by scores of patent and intellectual property suits. Nokia itself was involved in long and bitter patent litigation with Qualcomm that was settled in July 2008 with Nokia agreeing to make payments to Qualcomm over a 15-year period. That agreement included licenses for GSM features, which appear to constitute a major piece of Nokia’s complaint against Apple.
Nokia pioneered GSM, which has figured in AT&T’s exclusive network deal with the iPhone in the United States. The AT&T network also utilizes UMTS, likewise cited in the Nokia litigation. AT&T was not named by Nokia in the litigation. The Nokia complaint appears to be aimed largely at handset intellectual property, although Nokia didn’t completely spell out the charges in its Thursday press release.
Nokia noted that it has successfully entered into licensing agreements with about 40 companies that include the patents cited in the Apple litigation, adding that it maintains that all Apple iPhones shipped since the smartphone’s debut infringe on Nokia patents that cover wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.
Last week Nokia reported its first quarterly loss in years, while Apple reported very favorable earnings and revenue. Nokia leads the world in handset shipments with a 38% market share while Apple, still relatively new to the mobile market, is gaining share at a rapid rate.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Nokia To Launch Rs. 500 Handset Under Life Tools Program
As you all know that Nokia has launched its Nokia Life Tools program last year to tap the potential in India's rural market. The program aims towards connecting farmers with each other and also with their businesses in a better way. As a next step, Nokia will now be offering cheap handsets under its Life Tools program. These handsets will cost around 1,000 INR and farmers can easily afford them. Nokia is also planning to launch a 500 INR handset.
Nokia sells handsets in Indian rural markets through micro finance and such cheap handsets will help Nokia in penetrating the market in a better way. If you see today's mobile handset market in India, Nokia is one of the few branded companies that offers handset so cheap.
Nokia, though a big and strong player, is facing competition from its counterparts like Samsung and LG on one end and then there are Chinese cheap handsets and other India based OEMs like Micromax, Karbon who are slowly coming into the market. Their handsets offer a lot of features at a very low price.
With Life Tools, Nokia has already started tapping the rural treausre that India has and now the cheap handsets might just to the trick for Nokia. One thing is for sure, Nokia does know that India's rural market has potential as well as huge money and like Nokia always says, they love ompetition but they always aim for the biggers piece of the pie.
Read more »
Nokia sells handsets in Indian rural markets through micro finance and such cheap handsets will help Nokia in penetrating the market in a better way. If you see today's mobile handset market in India, Nokia is one of the few branded companies that offers handset so cheap.
Nokia, though a big and strong player, is facing competition from its counterparts like Samsung and LG on one end and then there are Chinese cheap handsets and other India based OEMs like Micromax, Karbon who are slowly coming into the market. Their handsets offer a lot of features at a very low price.
With Life Tools, Nokia has already started tapping the rural treausre that India has and now the cheap handsets might just to the trick for Nokia. One thing is for sure, Nokia does know that India's rural market has potential as well as huge money and like Nokia always says, they love ompetition but they always aim for the biggers piece of the pie.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Nokia Launches 2730c Most Affordable 3G Mobile Phone In India
Nokia the leading mobile phone makers today announced the launch of most affordable 3G handset, Nokia 2730 classic in India. The Stylish, sleek and compact Nokia 2730 classic is one of the most affordable 3G enable mobile phone priced at Rs 4,499.
The Nokia 2730 classic supports 3G for faster search and browsing and an integrated Opera mini browser. The Nokia 2730 classic is Nokia Life Tools compatible.Key features of the device include a 2? QVGA active display, 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, 3.5 mm AV connector, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, Bluetooth stereo, Flash Lite 3.0 and MIDP Java 2.1 with additional Java APIs.
The Handset provides an ultimate Internet experience and is competitively equipped with Nokia’s range of emerging market services such as Ovi Mail, Nokia Messaging, Nokia Life Tools, and browsing, making it easy for consumers to share and manage life.The handset is available in black and dark magenta colors.
Read more »
The Nokia 2730 classic supports 3G for faster search and browsing and an integrated Opera mini browser. The Nokia 2730 classic is Nokia Life Tools compatible.Key features of the device include a 2? QVGA active display, 2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, 3.5 mm AV connector, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, Bluetooth stereo, Flash Lite 3.0 and MIDP Java 2.1 with additional Java APIs.
The Handset provides an ultimate Internet experience and is competitively equipped with Nokia’s range of emerging market services such as Ovi Mail, Nokia Messaging, Nokia Life Tools, and browsing, making it easy for consumers to share and manage life.The handset is available in black and dark magenta colors.
Nokia launches C3, C6, E5 mobile phones
Mobile phone giant Nokia announced the launch of three new handsets - Nokia C3, Nokia C6 and Nokia E5. The Nokia C3 and Nokia C6 are social messaging phones while the Nokia E5 is the business messaging phone.
Nokia Corp. launched three less-expensive smart phones, including its first model expected to sell for under euro100 ($135) — in a strong move to grab new customers in emerging markets.
The world's largest mobile phone maker said it wants "to put better messaging and social networking tools in the hands of more people around the world at affordable prices."
The new Nokia C3, Nokia E5 and Nokia C6 handsets have full QWERTY keyboards, enable instant messaging and give access to e-mails. Their expected selling prices respectively are euro90, euro180 and euro220 before taxes and subsidies.
The handsets will be available during the second and third quarters of this year.
"Nokia's strategic focus is clearly on emerging markets now and taking higher feature devices to the masses and these three devices do that quite nicely," said Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics in London.
Finland-based Nokia, which is increasingly turning to providing applications and services for handset users, said in December it will focus on the smart phone sector, including providing cheaper handsets in emerging markets.
Despite strong competition from Blackberry and iPhone, Nokia's market share in smart phones grew from 35 percent to 40 percent in the last quarter of 2009.
The cheapest of the new models, the C3, with an estimated price tag of euro90, includes a two megapixel camera, a 2.4 inch screen and will include access to Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat that allow first-time users to set up e-mail and chat accounts straight from the device without the need for a computer.
It has WiFi connectivity and support for up to an 8GB memory card, allowing users to update their status and share pictures on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
"The C3 stands out the most at a very competitive price with a very effective feature set ... that goes squarely after the lower-tier mass market in India, Africa, China," Mawston said. "It's going to be one of their star devices over the next two quarters."
The Nokia C6, with an estimated price of euro220, has a 3.2-inch touch screen with full slide-out keyboard and a five megapixel camera featuring autofocus and flash.
The E5, expected to sell for some euro180, is targeted at corporate customers with numerous productivity applications available in Nokia's Ovi Store. It has direct access to over 90 percent of the world's corporate e-mails through Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler.
Nokia's share price was virtually unchanged at euro11.18 ($15.19) in early afternoon trading in Helsinki.
Read more »
Nokia Corp. launched three less-expensive smart phones, including its first model expected to sell for under euro100 ($135) — in a strong move to grab new customers in emerging markets.
The world's largest mobile phone maker said it wants "to put better messaging and social networking tools in the hands of more people around the world at affordable prices."
The new Nokia C3, Nokia E5 and Nokia C6 handsets have full QWERTY keyboards, enable instant messaging and give access to e-mails. Their expected selling prices respectively are euro90, euro180 and euro220 before taxes and subsidies.
The handsets will be available during the second and third quarters of this year.
"Nokia's strategic focus is clearly on emerging markets now and taking higher feature devices to the masses and these three devices do that quite nicely," said Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics in London.
Finland-based Nokia, which is increasingly turning to providing applications and services for handset users, said in December it will focus on the smart phone sector, including providing cheaper handsets in emerging markets.
Despite strong competition from Blackberry and iPhone, Nokia's market share in smart phones grew from 35 percent to 40 percent in the last quarter of 2009.
The cheapest of the new models, the C3, with an estimated price tag of euro90, includes a two megapixel camera, a 2.4 inch screen and will include access to Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat that allow first-time users to set up e-mail and chat accounts straight from the device without the need for a computer.
It has WiFi connectivity and support for up to an 8GB memory card, allowing users to update their status and share pictures on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
"The C3 stands out the most at a very competitive price with a very effective feature set ... that goes squarely after the lower-tier mass market in India, Africa, China," Mawston said. "It's going to be one of their star devices over the next two quarters."
The Nokia C6, with an estimated price of euro220, has a 3.2-inch touch screen with full slide-out keyboard and a five megapixel camera featuring autofocus and flash.
The E5, expected to sell for some euro180, is targeted at corporate customers with numerous productivity applications available in Nokia's Ovi Store. It has direct access to over 90 percent of the world's corporate e-mails through Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler.
Nokia's share price was virtually unchanged at euro11.18 ($15.19) in early afternoon trading in Helsinki.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic with Say and Play function
This candy-bar styled, rather simplistic looking handset runs on a Symbian OS with an S60 UI and is equipped with -
- 3 megapixel camera AF camera (LED flash)
- 2.2-inch TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixels)
- N-Gage Gaming
- MicroSD card support (up to 16GB)
- 3.5mm earphone socket
- Wi-Fi
- EDGE/GPRS, 3G (HSDPA)
- Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
- FM radio with RDS
The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic’s new tweaked homescreen shows the Contacts Bar that allows direct access to up to 20 friends or business contacts straight from there and provides a full communication history with these contacts including recent emails, messages, phone logs and photos shared. A shortcuts bar at the bottom of the homescreen also gives quick access to the most frequently used applications including music, radio, Web, N-Gage and photos. This is all very similar to the 5800’s but in a more confined space of course.
The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic should start making its way to shelves by the second quarter of this year with a price tag of about Rs 12, 575 (200 EURO) exclusive of subsidies and taxes and a bundled 4GB microSD card.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Nokia fights back for share of smartphone market
Nokia's new music phones lead the assault on rivals
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has admitted it was slow to react to the rise of new devices, such as the iPhone, and has launched a major offensive to win back market share from its rivals Apple and Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry email device.
"We have an aggressive plan now," Kai Oistamo, the Finnish company's executive vice-president for mobile phones, said at the Nokia World conference today. "But if you go back a few years, the market changed suddenly and we were not fast enough changing with it."
"To a large extent, that is behind us now and we have got our act together," he added.
The company is hoping to capitalise on its unlimited music service with the launch of three new products today – two revamped devices that use the music service, and a "lite" version of the touchscreen N97. They follow last week's launch of the N900, the first smartphone ever made by Nokia, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, and its first ever laptop, the Nokia 3G netbook.
Analysts immediately greeted the N900 as Nokia's first really compelling device that can compete in the high-end smartphone category now dominated by BlackBerry and the iPhone.
Oistamo said Nokia had already clawed back a share in the smartphone market in the past six months, possibly on the back of the N97. Previously, he said, it had been hit hard by rival products.
Nokia has also beaten rivals to become the first phone manufacturer to announce the launch of a netbook, and hopes to get a head start in that market. While the netbook's retail price is likely to be €575 (£506), the company has a deal with O2 in Germany under which customers can buy the laptop for just €250 if they sign a long-term contract. Similar deals are expected in other European markets. The netbook is to be launched in the fourth quarter, using the new Windows 7 operating system.
At the conference Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the string of product launches in the past week marked a "transformational" moment for Nokia. He said the company would attempt to grab more ground in the smartphone market while continuing to cater to different product categories.
He also stressed the importance of Nokia's expanding services business, which is built around its Ovi suite of mobile music, maps, games and other services and is intended to be the company's answer to iTunes, reiterating the firm's target of reaching 300m active Ovi users before 2012. It currently has 55m.
However, Nokia's Comes With Music service has failed to connect with consumers. Many people are reportedly confused by its marketing, which appears to target serious music fans even though the product is a perfect choice for parents who are worried that their children might be downloading tracks illegally at home.
To inject some sparkle back into the music service, Nokia today launched two new music phones: the X3, which has a slide-out number pad, and the X6 touchscreen phone. Both have more storage capacity than their predecessors, and the X6 is able to play about 35 hours of music before the battery runs out.
The launch of the N97 Mini, which is smaller and less powerful than its predecessor, is aimed at a a wider market: at €450, it is more affordable for the mobile operators, who subsidise the cost of phones in many markets.
Read more »
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has admitted it was slow to react to the rise of new devices, such as the iPhone, and has launched a major offensive to win back market share from its rivals Apple and Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry email device.
"We have an aggressive plan now," Kai Oistamo, the Finnish company's executive vice-president for mobile phones, said at the Nokia World conference today. "But if you go back a few years, the market changed suddenly and we were not fast enough changing with it."
"To a large extent, that is behind us now and we have got our act together," he added.
The company is hoping to capitalise on its unlimited music service with the launch of three new products today – two revamped devices that use the music service, and a "lite" version of the touchscreen N97. They follow last week's launch of the N900, the first smartphone ever made by Nokia, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, and its first ever laptop, the Nokia 3G netbook.
Analysts immediately greeted the N900 as Nokia's first really compelling device that can compete in the high-end smartphone category now dominated by BlackBerry and the iPhone.
Oistamo said Nokia had already clawed back a share in the smartphone market in the past six months, possibly on the back of the N97. Previously, he said, it had been hit hard by rival products.
Nokia has also beaten rivals to become the first phone manufacturer to announce the launch of a netbook, and hopes to get a head start in that market. While the netbook's retail price is likely to be €575 (£506), the company has a deal with O2 in Germany under which customers can buy the laptop for just €250 if they sign a long-term contract. Similar deals are expected in other European markets. The netbook is to be launched in the fourth quarter, using the new Windows 7 operating system.
At the conference Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the string of product launches in the past week marked a "transformational" moment for Nokia. He said the company would attempt to grab more ground in the smartphone market while continuing to cater to different product categories.
He also stressed the importance of Nokia's expanding services business, which is built around its Ovi suite of mobile music, maps, games and other services and is intended to be the company's answer to iTunes, reiterating the firm's target of reaching 300m active Ovi users before 2012. It currently has 55m.
However, Nokia's Comes With Music service has failed to connect with consumers. Many people are reportedly confused by its marketing, which appears to target serious music fans even though the product is a perfect choice for parents who are worried that their children might be downloading tracks illegally at home.
To inject some sparkle back into the music service, Nokia today launched two new music phones: the X3, which has a slide-out number pad, and the X6 touchscreen phone. Both have more storage capacity than their predecessors, and the X6 is able to play about 35 hours of music before the battery runs out.
The launch of the N97 Mini, which is smaller and less powerful than its predecessor, is aimed at a a wider market: at €450, it is more affordable for the mobile operators, who subsidise the cost of phones in many markets.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Nokia Launches Two New Handsets in India
Nokia has just launched two new Symbian Series 40 enabled handsets in the Indian market - Nokia 6700 Classic and Nokia 6303 Classic which further strengthened its style and imaging portfolio for mobile devices. The devices, which were launched by Bollywood diva, Priyanka Chopra, are targeted at the suave and savvy Indian consumers who are looking for superior functionality with premium finish at competitive prices. Alongside the Nokia 6700 Classic and Nokia 6303 Classic launch, the company also rolled out a consumer engagement initiative - “Pictures get us talking”. The consumer contest that starts from today, gives users an opportunity to upload their interesting and unique pictures on the Nokia website – www.nokia.co.in. The picture that starts the maximum conversations and is the most talked about in the virtual world will emerge as the winner. The winning entry will get a complete makeover by a well known fashion designer. In addition, Priyanka Chopra will also talk and Twitter about her favorite pictures on her Twitter page. Speaking at the occasion, Vineet Taneja, Director Marketing, Nokia India said, “Nokia is delighted to strengthen its bond with India’s style conscious consumers, both by extending our association with Priyanka Chopra and with the launch of Nokia 6700 Classic and Nokia 6303 Classic. The new devices combine the superior functionality and enhanced user experience with premium designs and materials available at an extremely competitive price point. The Nokia 6700 Classic shares the same 'DNA' as its predecessor Nokia 6300 and we believe that it will be one of our best selling devices in 2009.” The Nokia 6700 combines smooth surfaces, rich materials and precisely crafted parts with a full metal keymat which completes the premium finish. Other features include – * a 2.2 inch TFT LCD (240 x 320 pixel resolution) * 3G support with HSDPA, EDGE/GPRS * Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP * USB 2.0 (micro) * A-GPS navigation with Nokia Maps, * microSD card support * a 5 megapixel camera, * FM with RDS Additionally the Nokia 6700 features the innovative uplink noise cancellation (UNC) that blocks out background noises and Navigation via internal GPS with Nokia Maps (30 days license free). The second handset, the Nokia 6303 Classic features - * a 2.2 inch screen (240 x 320 pixels) * a 3.2 megapixel camera * GPRS/EDGE * Bluetooth 2.0 * USB 2.0 (micro) * microSD card support * pre-loaded Nokia Maps * 3.5 mm audio jack * FM radio The 6303 is not a GPS enabled handset. The Nokia 6700 Classic is available in Chrome and Black and is priced at Rs. 14,000. The Nokia 6303 Classic is priced at Rs. 8000.
Read more »
Friday, April 6, 2012
Nokia To Launch Rs. 500 Handset Under Life Tools Program
As you all know that Nokia has launched its Nokia Life Tools program last year to tap the potential in India's rural market. The program aims towards connecting farmers with each other and also with their businesses in a better way. As a next step, Nokia will now be offering cheap handsets under its Life Tools program. These handsets will cost around 1,000 INR and farmers can easily afford them. Nokia is also planning to launch a 500 INR handset.
Nokia sells handsets in Indian rural markets through micro finance and such cheap handsets will help Nokia in penetrating the market in a better way. If you see today's mobile handset market in India, Nokia is one of the few branded companies that offers handset so cheap.
Nokia, though a big and strong player, is facing competition from its counterparts like Samsung and LG on one end and then there are Chinese cheap handsets and other India based OEMs like Micromax, Karbon who are slowly coming into the market. Their handsets offer a lot of features at a very low price.
With Life Tools, Nokia has already started tapping the rural treausre that India has and now the cheap handsets might just to the trick for Nokia. One thing is for sure, Nokia does know that India's rural market has potential as well as huge money and like Nokia always says, they love ompetition but they always aim for the biggers piece of the pie.
Read more »
Nokia sells handsets in Indian rural markets through micro finance and such cheap handsets will help Nokia in penetrating the market in a better way. If you see today's mobile handset market in India, Nokia is one of the few branded companies that offers handset so cheap.
Nokia, though a big and strong player, is facing competition from its counterparts like Samsung and LG on one end and then there are Chinese cheap handsets and other India based OEMs like Micromax, Karbon who are slowly coming into the market. Their handsets offer a lot of features at a very low price.
With Life Tools, Nokia has already started tapping the rural treausre that India has and now the cheap handsets might just to the trick for Nokia. One thing is for sure, Nokia does know that India's rural market has potential as well as huge money and like Nokia always says, they love ompetition but they always aim for the biggers piece of the pie.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
3G: Handset companies line up new launches, cut prices
Mobile phone manufacturers have seized the opportunity to sell 3G phones, even before private telecom operators are awarded the airwaves, by lining up new launches and cutting handset prices to just over Rs 4,000.
In doing so, cellphone makers are attempting to lure buyers of high-end GPRS handsets, which operate on the 2G spectrum. Phones operating on the 3G airwaves, which are up for auction, offer faster data downloads and high-quality video streaming.
“Even before 3G auctions are complete, we have seen significant demand for handsets,” says Jeff Taylor, co-founder, INQ Mobiles.
Nearly 20% of India’s 550 million cellphone subscribers possess high-end GPRS handsets, which are priced between Rs 2,500 and Rs 35,000.
Nokia is offering a 3G phone (model: 2730) from Rs 4,119 onwards, while Sony Ericsson’s phone begins at the Rs 6,000 price-point. At the higher end, Blackberry’s 3G model is priced upwards of Rs 17,000 while Apple’s iPhone 3G is priced at over Rs 30,000.
Mobile phone manufacturers are expecting the spectrum auctions to shake up the Rs 35,000-crore market, which operates on wafer-thin margins of 1-2%.
Value-added service players are also eyeing gains from the launch of TV serials or comedy clips on mobiles. Second-largest player Samsung has one of the largest cellphone line-ups with 13 models and plans to launch up to seven more in the next six months.
“India is a technology-adaptive market, and thus the new launches,” says Ranjeet Yadav, head of Samsung’s IT division.
Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai are the largest markets for high-end phones. The Capital alone sees 20% of sales for phones costing over Rs 10,000 in India. “Pricing of handsets will not be a problem as most handsets are already quite affordable,” says Sudhin Mathur, head of LG’s India mobile division. LG has about five 3G handsets and plans to introduce up to 10.
Surfing, emailing and downloading of applications will be the most sought-after features on the new handsets, says Mr Taylor of INQ Mobile, which entered the Indian market just two months ago with Aircel.
The company has two handsets in the Indian market, both of which are 3G-enabled. It is planning to come out with altogether five handsets in the mid-market price segment of below Rs 8,000, he says.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Dual-SIM Mobile Phones Gaining Popularity in India
Demand for mobile phones that can accept two SIM (subscriber identity module) cards has picked up strongly in India, but Nokia, the dominant handset vendor in India, is late to the market.
Dual SIM phones currently account roughly for close to about 15 percent of mobile phones sales in the country, and the market is growing fast, said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Nokia plans to launch its first dual-SIM phone, the Nokia C2, in India in the next few months.
Competitor Samsung said its dual-SIM phones, introduced in the second quarter of last year, will account for 12 to 15 percent of mobile phones sold by the company this year. That's up from about 8 percent of unit sales last year, said Ruchika Batra, a spokeswoman. The company is launching more dual-SIM models this year, she added.
The market is mainly driven by users who want to switch between carriers to take advantage of the best deals, said Gupta. Business and professional users may also use these phones to have a separate mobile number for personal and official calls, he added.
A large number of buyers of Samsung's dual SIM phones use the two SIMs on the phone to switch between network providers if coverage gets patchy, or when they are traveling between cities, Batra said.
The market for dual SIM mobile phones is dominated currently by locally branded phones, and phones from Chinese vendors selling into India, according to Gupta.
Such vendors are providing increasing competition for big-name players like Nokia, which had a 54.1 percent share of the India's 101.54 million-unit mobile phone market in 2009, according to research firm IDC India. The company's share is bound to go down as more vendors enter the Indian market, IDC India said in April.
Indian and Chinese vendors are making inroads at the low end of the Indian mobile phone market by offering a combination of features such as dual SIM, powerful speakerphones and a battery life of up to 30 days, Gupta said. These vendors have stripped some features, like the camera and Wi-Fi, from mobile phones to lower costs, and instead focused on features like long battery life which are so critical in rural markets, he added.
India had 617.5 million [m] mobile subscribers at the end of May, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Dual SIM phones currently account roughly for close to about 15 percent of mobile phones sales in the country, and the market is growing fast, said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Nokia plans to launch its first dual-SIM phone, the Nokia C2, in India in the next few months.
Competitor Samsung said its dual-SIM phones, introduced in the second quarter of last year, will account for 12 to 15 percent of mobile phones sold by the company this year. That's up from about 8 percent of unit sales last year, said Ruchika Batra, a spokeswoman. The company is launching more dual-SIM models this year, she added.
The market is mainly driven by users who want to switch between carriers to take advantage of the best deals, said Gupta. Business and professional users may also use these phones to have a separate mobile number for personal and official calls, he added.
A large number of buyers of Samsung's dual SIM phones use the two SIMs on the phone to switch between network providers if coverage gets patchy, or when they are traveling between cities, Batra said.
The market for dual SIM mobile phones is dominated currently by locally branded phones, and phones from Chinese vendors selling into India, according to Gupta.
Such vendors are providing increasing competition for big-name players like Nokia, which had a 54.1 percent share of the India's 101.54 million-unit mobile phone market in 2009, according to research firm IDC India. The company's share is bound to go down as more vendors enter the Indian market, IDC India said in April.
Indian and Chinese vendors are making inroads at the low end of the Indian mobile phone market by offering a combination of features such as dual SIM, powerful speakerphones and a battery life of up to 30 days, Gupta said. These vendors have stripped some features, like the camera and Wi-Fi, from mobile phones to lower costs, and instead focused on features like long battery life which are so critical in rural markets, he added.
India had 617.5 million [m] mobile subscribers at the end of May, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Time for mobile users to ring in recycling
Do you plan to discard your mobile phone or exchange it for a new one? Then consider this: Old mobile phones constitute 1,700 tonnes of the 50,000 tonnes of e-waste generated in India each year and, according to a UN report released early this year, e-waste from mobile phones is set to rise 18 times by 2020.
E-waste, or electronic waste, implies discarded computers, mobiles, refrigerators or any other electronic appliance at the end of its life. With growing consumerism, discarding e-waste has become a big challenge in the country.
This has spawned a relatively new sector: Organised recycling. As of now, 16 players have sprung into action by re-cycling mobile phones, which also contain precious metals like gold, silver and platinum as well as other metals like copper. Mobile phone and PC makers gobble up three per cent of the world’s entire gold and silver supply each year, not to mention 13 per cent of palladium, 15 per cent of cobalt, and plenty of copper, steel, nickel and aluminum.
Faisal Faraz, marketing manager for e-waste recycling company Greenscape, says, “Almost 90 per cent of e-waste is being recycled by the unorganized sector, which includes small scale garbage collectors. The process they use for extracting precious metals is not only harmful, but also results in the loss of almost 75 per cent of the precious metals.” He reasons that a licensed re-cycler can extract metal waste in an eco-friendly way.
While all parts of a gadget are re-cycled locally, printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones are exported abroad to smelting companies for metal extraction. Last year alone, Greenscape exported 100 tonnes of PCBs from e-waste (1.3 tonnes from mobile phones) to smelting companies, like Umicore, in Belgium.
Besides precious metals, an average mobile phone contains poisonous substances like lead and mercury, which can pose serious environmental and health hazards if not disposed properly.
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents the mobile industry, is said to be working on e-waste guidelines. Pankaj Mahendroo, president, ICA, says, “Except for a few vendors there is no massive recycling initiative yet.”
This is the situation in a country where annual mobile sales are forecasted to reach 138.6 million in 2010 — an increase of 18.5 per cent over last year’s sales of 117 million units, according to Gartner data. “Cellular phone penetration in India stood at 45 per cent in 2009 and, now, the market is entering a second growth phase, with replacement sales increasing from 45 per cent in 2009 to 50 per cent of total sales in 2010,” informs Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Major handset makers may have announced a take-back policy that collect old handsets and give them to authorised re-cyclers, but the exercise is clearly lacking momentum as most users are still unaware of such schemes.
According to a Nokia study, awareness in India about recycling was the lowest among all countries surveyed at 17 per cent and 84 per cent of Indians didn’t think about recycling their unwanted phones.
A small beginning was made by Nokia with ‘Planet Ke Rakhwaale’ — a take-back and recycling campaign launched early this year. Under the programme, Nokia encourages consumers to drop their unused mobiles and chargers, irrespective of the brand, into 1,350 recycling bins placed at Nokia Care Centres. As of April, Nokia says it has collected more than 16 tonnes — or more than 500,000 phones and accessories.
Samsung, too, informs that it has an on-going recycling initiative across 216 centres. “We have tied up with a government-authorised recycling agency for recycling old mobiles. The response to this initiative has been encouraging and we plan to shortly extend this take-back programme to our consumer electronics products as well,” says Ranjit Yadav, director, Mobile & IT, Samsung India, without detailing how many mobile phones the company has recycled so far.
Sony Ericsson, while claiming it has a take-back policy for old handsets, remained uncommunicative on details.
E-waste, or electronic waste, implies discarded computers, mobiles, refrigerators or any other electronic appliance at the end of its life. With growing consumerism, discarding e-waste has become a big challenge in the country.
This has spawned a relatively new sector: Organised recycling. As of now, 16 players have sprung into action by re-cycling mobile phones, which also contain precious metals like gold, silver and platinum as well as other metals like copper. Mobile phone and PC makers gobble up three per cent of the world’s entire gold and silver supply each year, not to mention 13 per cent of palladium, 15 per cent of cobalt, and plenty of copper, steel, nickel and aluminum.
Faisal Faraz, marketing manager for e-waste recycling company Greenscape, says, “Almost 90 per cent of e-waste is being recycled by the unorganized sector, which includes small scale garbage collectors. The process they use for extracting precious metals is not only harmful, but also results in the loss of almost 75 per cent of the precious metals.” He reasons that a licensed re-cycler can extract metal waste in an eco-friendly way.
While all parts of a gadget are re-cycled locally, printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones are exported abroad to smelting companies for metal extraction. Last year alone, Greenscape exported 100 tonnes of PCBs from e-waste (1.3 tonnes from mobile phones) to smelting companies, like Umicore, in Belgium.
Besides precious metals, an average mobile phone contains poisonous substances like lead and mercury, which can pose serious environmental and health hazards if not disposed properly.
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents the mobile industry, is said to be working on e-waste guidelines. Pankaj Mahendroo, president, ICA, says, “Except for a few vendors there is no massive recycling initiative yet.”
This is the situation in a country where annual mobile sales are forecasted to reach 138.6 million in 2010 — an increase of 18.5 per cent over last year’s sales of 117 million units, according to Gartner data. “Cellular phone penetration in India stood at 45 per cent in 2009 and, now, the market is entering a second growth phase, with replacement sales increasing from 45 per cent in 2009 to 50 per cent of total sales in 2010,” informs Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Major handset makers may have announced a take-back policy that collect old handsets and give them to authorised re-cyclers, but the exercise is clearly lacking momentum as most users are still unaware of such schemes.
According to a Nokia study, awareness in India about recycling was the lowest among all countries surveyed at 17 per cent and 84 per cent of Indians didn’t think about recycling their unwanted phones.
A small beginning was made by Nokia with ‘Planet Ke Rakhwaale’ — a take-back and recycling campaign launched early this year. Under the programme, Nokia encourages consumers to drop their unused mobiles and chargers, irrespective of the brand, into 1,350 recycling bins placed at Nokia Care Centres. As of April, Nokia says it has collected more than 16 tonnes — or more than 500,000 phones and accessories.
Samsung, too, informs that it has an on-going recycling initiative across 216 centres. “We have tied up with a government-authorised recycling agency for recycling old mobiles. The response to this initiative has been encouraging and we plan to shortly extend this take-back programme to our consumer electronics products as well,” says Ranjit Yadav, director, Mobile & IT, Samsung India, without detailing how many mobile phones the company has recycled so far.
Sony Ericsson, while claiming it has a take-back policy for old handsets, remained uncommunicative on details.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Mobile Phones With Free Gifts offers you More Than your Expectation
A mobile phone or a cell phone is a long range, portable electronic device that is used for mobile communication. A cell phone uses a network of specialised base stations known as cell sites. Current mobile phones come equipped with a number of useful applications like Instant Messaging, Internet Access, Camera and Hands Free. The third generation (3G) mobile phones were first commercially launched in Japan in 1990. Due to advances in technology, cell phones have become increasingly compact over a period of time.
Currently, the Nokia Corp. is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world. The company has a current global mobile phone market share of approximately 36 percent. Africa has the largest growth rate of cell phone subscribers in the world. Over 6 million cell phones are sold in India in a month alone. The country expects to reach up to 500 million subscribers by the end of 2010. These days, the cell phones can also be custom decorated to reflect the owner’s personality.
Gone are the days when only high profile business people and executives could afford to own a mobile phones. These days, mobile phones have become very common. Be it a student, home maker or an executive, everyone keeps a cell phone with him or her these days. Mobile phones industry is a multi billion dollar industry today. The success of many businesses depend upon the efficient utilisation of mobile phone services. In fact, there is a large number of people who cannot spend a single day without using a mobile phone.
Mobile phones keep one in touch with her or his near and dear ones at all times. These devices come quite handy in an emergency situation. One can always inform about his emergency to the police, family members or his friends with the help of a cell phone. Most high end mobile phones these days come equipped with a video camera and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. A GPS receiver helps in locating the exact position of the mobile phone user.
Retailers across the UK are offering attractive free gifts with branded mobile phones to the consumers to increase their usage. These free gifts could include goodies like free talk time, free text messages and subsidised call rates. Some of them will also give consumers costly gifts like a Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation gaming console when one purchases a high end mobile phone from them. Many retailers also give cash back offers on some selected handsets. Still others will insure the user’s handset for free for a limited period of time. Some may even offer a free handset as a gift to the users.
The free gifts with mobile phones are a relatively new trend. The manufactures offer free gifts to the users with cell phones to increase the sale of their devices. UK based mobile network service providers like Orange, Virgin and Vodafone have come up with many innovative mobile phone deals. Such deals help these network service providers to increase their subscription base.
Free gifts with mobile phones have become so popular that people always look for them before purchasing a new handset. World’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones like Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have come up with many new models of cell phones in past few years. Some of the highly capable handsets launched by these manufacturers during past few years include Sony Ericssson W850i, Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte and Samsung U100. Retailers in the UK are offering free gifts like Apple iPod, laptops and XBox 360 Elite gaming console with these handsets.
One may also opt to purchase a Contract Mobile phone or a Pay As You Go Mobile phone. These handsets come with attractive mobile phone deals. One may get a lot of incentives under these deals. One may also search the internet to know more about the free gifts offered by various online retailers in the UK. 12 months free line rental is the latest deal that is gaining popularity among the people in the UK. In fact, a large number of people these days purchase only that handset which is offered with some free gift.
Currently, the Nokia Corp. is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world. The company has a current global mobile phone market share of approximately 36 percent. Africa has the largest growth rate of cell phone subscribers in the world. Over 6 million cell phones are sold in India in a month alone. The country expects to reach up to 500 million subscribers by the end of 2010. These days, the cell phones can also be custom decorated to reflect the owner’s personality.
Gone are the days when only high profile business people and executives could afford to own a mobile phones. These days, mobile phones have become very common. Be it a student, home maker or an executive, everyone keeps a cell phone with him or her these days. Mobile phones industry is a multi billion dollar industry today. The success of many businesses depend upon the efficient utilisation of mobile phone services. In fact, there is a large number of people who cannot spend a single day without using a mobile phone.
Mobile phones keep one in touch with her or his near and dear ones at all times. These devices come quite handy in an emergency situation. One can always inform about his emergency to the police, family members or his friends with the help of a cell phone. Most high end mobile phones these days come equipped with a video camera and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. A GPS receiver helps in locating the exact position of the mobile phone user.
Retailers across the UK are offering attractive free gifts with branded mobile phones to the consumers to increase their usage. These free gifts could include goodies like free talk time, free text messages and subsidised call rates. Some of them will also give consumers costly gifts like a Nintendo Wii or Sony PlayStation gaming console when one purchases a high end mobile phone from them. Many retailers also give cash back offers on some selected handsets. Still others will insure the user’s handset for free for a limited period of time. Some may even offer a free handset as a gift to the users.
The free gifts with mobile phones are a relatively new trend. The manufactures offer free gifts to the users with cell phones to increase the sale of their devices. UK based mobile network service providers like Orange, Virgin and Vodafone have come up with many innovative mobile phone deals. Such deals help these network service providers to increase their subscription base.
Free gifts with mobile phones have become so popular that people always look for them before purchasing a new handset. World’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones like Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have come up with many new models of cell phones in past few years. Some of the highly capable handsets launched by these manufacturers during past few years include Sony Ericssson W850i, Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte and Samsung U100. Retailers in the UK are offering free gifts like Apple iPod, laptops and XBox 360 Elite gaming console with these handsets.
One may also opt to purchase a Contract Mobile phone or a Pay As You Go Mobile phone. These handsets come with attractive mobile phone deals. One may get a lot of incentives under these deals. One may also search the internet to know more about the free gifts offered by various online retailers in the UK. 12 months free line rental is the latest deal that is gaining popularity among the people in the UK. In fact, a large number of people these days purchase only that handset which is offered with some free gift.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Nokia Dual Sim Mobile Phones Finally Launched in India
Dual sim means you can take the advantage of two connections in the same handset and also manage separately your personal as well as professional calls. Today numerous of domestic mobile brands have launched the many dual sim mobile phones in the sub - Rs 5, 000 category. So now the market leader Nokia is also focusing on the dual sim mobile phones to meet the current demand of the consumers. Recently we found the number of Nokia dual sim mobile phones in the Indian mobile market. The Nokia dual sim mobile price will surely suit to the pockets of many Indian consumers.
Fortunately, the telecom giant Nokia has launched its first dual sim mobile phones in India. They all from Nokia C series and this series are not at all new for us. We have already heard about the Nokia C3 and Nokia C5 mobile phones. These are the entry level handsets and satisfied the basic needs at affordable cost.
Now it introduces the two Nokia dual sim mobile phones in this series are Nokia C1 (C1-00) and Nokia C2 (C2-00). Both Nokia dual sim mobile phones come in the affordable range and offer the all basic features. But yes don’t expect the lavish features from these two Nokia dual sim mobile phones. They offer you the features like FM Radio, Color Screen, Flash Light and Send Messages. The Nokia dual sim mobile price comes under the bracket of Rs. 2000 to Rs 2800.
These Nokia dual sim mobile phones have the very similar features like Nokia C1 (C1-00) is accompanied with the FM radio, microSD card slot and a VGA resolution camera where as Nokia C2 (C2-00) has embedded with the similar above features but also has Bluetooth, Ovi Mail and Chat features. It is true that both Nokia dual sim mobile phones come under the very affordable price range.
But do you think? These mobile phones will prove to be success when other mobile manufactures have already launched the low end mobile phones in India. Well this is hard to say that because presently the Nokia is the strong name in the mobile industry so may be the people opt for the Nokia dual sim mobile phones instead of any other.
Fortunately, the telecom giant Nokia has launched its first dual sim mobile phones in India. They all from Nokia C series and this series are not at all new for us. We have already heard about the Nokia C3 and Nokia C5 mobile phones. These are the entry level handsets and satisfied the basic needs at affordable cost.
Now it introduces the two Nokia dual sim mobile phones in this series are Nokia C1 (C1-00) and Nokia C2 (C2-00). Both Nokia dual sim mobile phones come in the affordable range and offer the all basic features. But yes don’t expect the lavish features from these two Nokia dual sim mobile phones. They offer you the features like FM Radio, Color Screen, Flash Light and Send Messages. The Nokia dual sim mobile price comes under the bracket of Rs. 2000 to Rs 2800.
These Nokia dual sim mobile phones have the very similar features like Nokia C1 (C1-00) is accompanied with the FM radio, microSD card slot and a VGA resolution camera where as Nokia C2 (C2-00) has embedded with the similar above features but also has Bluetooth, Ovi Mail and Chat features. It is true that both Nokia dual sim mobile phones come under the very affordable price range.
But do you think? These mobile phones will prove to be success when other mobile manufactures have already launched the low end mobile phones in India. Well this is hard to say that because presently the Nokia is the strong name in the mobile industry so may be the people opt for the Nokia dual sim mobile phones instead of any other.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Dell Bets on Smartphone Sales in India
Better late than never. That seems to be Dell’s mantra as it seeks to launch its first smartphone in India – the world’s fastest growing and second-largest mobile phone market – to take on the combined Hewlett-Packard-Palm threat it now faces.
“We will launch a smartphone in India later this year,” Steve Felice, president of Dell’s consumer, small and medium business division, said in a post-earnings conference call with Asian journalists Friday.
Dell will also bring more smartphone models to China in addition to the one launched earlier this year, he added.
The move can’t come too soon.
Rival Hewlett-Packard, which leads Dell in overall PC market share globally as well as in India, agreed to buy Palm Inc. in April this year for about $1.2 billion. H-P is expected to use the acquisition to add smartphone market share to its market leadership of worldwide and Indian PC sales.
In India, sales of mobile phones far outnumber personal computers. For every personal computer sold in India, 80 new mobile phones were sold in the calendar year of 2009, according to statistics by research firm IDC India.
Commercial third-generation bandwidth services are expected to roll out in September, which is likely to boost consumption of data services on smartphones.
Finnish handset maker Nokia had the largest share of 54.1% in terms of units sold in India during calendar year 2009 followed by Korean firms Samsung with a 9.7% share and LG with a 6.4% share, a note by IDC India said.
Though no separate numbers on smartphone sales in India were immediately available, the entry of cheap Indian-branded and Chinese-made copies of Nokia, Blackberry and iPhone smartphones may spoil the party for Dell, H-P and other smartphone makers including Apple.
The mobile phone market has got more crowded and fragmented, said IDC India.
“The rise of ‘copycat’ models that have looks and aesthetics resembling those of high-end smartphones which are often available for as little as one-tenth of the average sales value of a smartphone have led to this,” the research firm added.
Also, price-conscious consumers have forced intensely competitive operators to charge a pittance for voice calls, so it is still difficult to sell unlimited data plans, none of which cost less than $20 dollars a month.
Despite this, the need of the average Indian to access information and use services like learning English or booking train tickets on mobile phones should help Dell in its smartphone venture eventually.
“We will launch a smartphone in India later this year,” Steve Felice, president of Dell’s consumer, small and medium business division, said in a post-earnings conference call with Asian journalists Friday.
Dell will also bring more smartphone models to China in addition to the one launched earlier this year, he added.
The move can’t come too soon.
Rival Hewlett-Packard, which leads Dell in overall PC market share globally as well as in India, agreed to buy Palm Inc. in April this year for about $1.2 billion. H-P is expected to use the acquisition to add smartphone market share to its market leadership of worldwide and Indian PC sales.
In India, sales of mobile phones far outnumber personal computers. For every personal computer sold in India, 80 new mobile phones were sold in the calendar year of 2009, according to statistics by research firm IDC India.
Commercial third-generation bandwidth services are expected to roll out in September, which is likely to boost consumption of data services on smartphones.
Finnish handset maker Nokia had the largest share of 54.1% in terms of units sold in India during calendar year 2009 followed by Korean firms Samsung with a 9.7% share and LG with a 6.4% share, a note by IDC India said.
Though no separate numbers on smartphone sales in India were immediately available, the entry of cheap Indian-branded and Chinese-made copies of Nokia, Blackberry and iPhone smartphones may spoil the party for Dell, H-P and other smartphone makers including Apple.
The mobile phone market has got more crowded and fragmented, said IDC India.
“The rise of ‘copycat’ models that have looks and aesthetics resembling those of high-end smartphones which are often available for as little as one-tenth of the average sales value of a smartphone have led to this,” the research firm added.
Also, price-conscious consumers have forced intensely competitive operators to charge a pittance for voice calls, so it is still difficult to sell unlimited data plans, none of which cost less than $20 dollars a month.
Despite this, the need of the average Indian to access information and use services like learning English or booking train tickets on mobile phones should help Dell in its smartphone venture eventually.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Top Five Mostly Used Mobile Phones in India
Mobile phones are becoming part of a person's life. Back in late 90's, mobile phone was a luxury and only "Rich" people could afford it but now time has changed and even the tea stall owner or rickshaw driver can afford a mobile phone. I think to have a mobile phone in India is now a necessity.
India is pumping millions of mobile subscribers every month and now I think India has more mobile subscribers than landlines. So what mobile phones are popular in India?
Recently, Opera released a report for Opera Mini revealing the top 10 sites accessed from cell phones and also, the top 10 handsets used for accessing the sites. Here’s the list of the top 5 mobile phones used in India as per Opera Mini’s report for June 2008 –
India is pumping millions of mobile subscribers every month and now I think India has more mobile subscribers than landlines. So what mobile phones are popular in India?
Recently, Opera released a report for Opera Mini revealing the top 10 sites accessed from cell phones and also, the top 10 handsets used for accessing the sites. Here’s the list of the top 5 mobile phones used in India as per Opera Mini’s report for June 2008 –
- Nokia N70
- Nokia N73
- Nokia 6233
- Nokia 6600
- Nokia 3110c
Nokia Launches Its Cheapest Phone Yet for Emerging Markets
Nokia has unveiled the 1280, a mobile phone for emerging markets that is 20 percent cheaper than its predecessor, the 1202.
The unsubsidized cost of the 1280 is €20 (US$30), which makes it Nokia's cheapest mobile phone yet, according to a Nokia blog post. But the prize squeeze won't end there: The concept of a €5 mobile phone doesn't seem so far fetched, the blog post said.
The difference between mobile phone markets is the Western world and developing countries is stark. In the U.S. the average monthly revenue per user was approximately US$51 last year, compared to about US$6.40 in India, according to data from IE Market Research and Research and Markets. That doesn't leave much room for local Indian operators to subsidize expensive smartphones. Instead users have to pay for the phone themselves, and in a country where the average annual per capita income is about US$805 that isn't much. So phones like the 1280 are needed.
The 1280 offers a talk time of up to 8.5 hours -- 30 minutes less than the 1202, according to Nokia -- and a flashlight. Both are important features when you live in a part of the world where power isn't readily available, Nokia said.
The 1280 may have a shorter battery life than the 1202, but the phone can store more contacts, 500 versus 200 entries, and it adds an FM-radio with a standard 3.5 millimeter stereo headphone jack. It also has five separate phone books, which should make it simpler for people to share the device.
Besides the 1280 Nokia, has unveiled four other phones for emerging markets: the 1616, the 1800, the 2220 slide and the 2690. The 1616 adds a color display and €4 to the price of the 1280. The 2220 slide adds support for mobile e-mail using Nokia's own Ovi Mail and costs €45.
Support for Nokia Life Tools is something all phones have in common. Life Tools is a set of services that lets consumers in small towns and rural areas to subscribe to agriculture, education and entertainment related information and content. It's already available in India, and will be available across Indonesia from early December, Nokia said.
The 2220 will be the first of the new phones to ship, before the end of this year, with the 1280 shipping in the first quarter next year, Nokia said.
Read more »
The unsubsidized cost of the 1280 is €20 (US$30), which makes it Nokia's cheapest mobile phone yet, according to a Nokia blog post. But the prize squeeze won't end there: The concept of a €5 mobile phone doesn't seem so far fetched, the blog post said.
The difference between mobile phone markets is the Western world and developing countries is stark. In the U.S. the average monthly revenue per user was approximately US$51 last year, compared to about US$6.40 in India, according to data from IE Market Research and Research and Markets. That doesn't leave much room for local Indian operators to subsidize expensive smartphones. Instead users have to pay for the phone themselves, and in a country where the average annual per capita income is about US$805 that isn't much. So phones like the 1280 are needed.
The 1280 offers a talk time of up to 8.5 hours -- 30 minutes less than the 1202, according to Nokia -- and a flashlight. Both are important features when you live in a part of the world where power isn't readily available, Nokia said.
The 1280 may have a shorter battery life than the 1202, but the phone can store more contacts, 500 versus 200 entries, and it adds an FM-radio with a standard 3.5 millimeter stereo headphone jack. It also has five separate phone books, which should make it simpler for people to share the device.
Besides the 1280 Nokia, has unveiled four other phones for emerging markets: the 1616, the 1800, the 2220 slide and the 2690. The 1616 adds a color display and €4 to the price of the 1280. The 2220 slide adds support for mobile e-mail using Nokia's own Ovi Mail and costs €45.
Support for Nokia Life Tools is something all phones have in common. Life Tools is a set of services that lets consumers in small towns and rural areas to subscribe to agriculture, education and entertainment related information and content. It's already available in India, and will be available across Indonesia from early December, Nokia said.
The 2220 will be the first of the new phones to ship, before the end of this year, with the 1280 shipping in the first quarter next year, Nokia said.
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