Nokia’s regular mobile phones sold 7:1 when compared to its smart-phone sales. In fact, “Nokia’s smartphone division hasn’t even made a profit in five quarters” – Bloomberg
With the high-end smart-phones boasting quad-core processing, HD screens and the like, there hasn’t been much talk of the lower end smartphones in media these days, but there is a market for smartphone newcomers and those not willing to dish out the two, three and four hundred dollars for the latest and greatest iPhones and Galaxies.
In steps Nokia, again.
Nokia is #2 in the world when it comes to mobile-phone sales, second only to Samsung, which sold about 22% of the nearly 420 million mobile phones sold, according to Gartner Inc. When it comes to smartphones, though, people just haven’t seemed to take interest in Nokia’s smartphones.
Nokia’s regular mobile phones sold 7:1 when compared to its smartphone sales. In fact, Nokia’s smartphone division hasn’t even made a profit in five quarters (according to Bloomberg). That’s how unprofitable Nokia’s attempts to gain a smartphone following have been for the mega-mobile product maker.
Nonetheless, Nokia has brought on two more touchscreen phones to its line of smartphone products today: The Asha 308 and Asha 309. The two phones are hoping to reach consumers looking to take advantage of the smartphone-usage trend, but not willing to put out the money necessary to get in at the top of the line.
Timo Toikkanen, Nokia’s head of mobile phones at Nokia, said that “People buying the more affordable smartphones are also very aspirational. They have the same ambitions that you see with a consumer from a very high-end smartphone, valuing things like design.”
The Asha 308 and 309 are Nokia’s cheapest smartphones so far that have a capacitive screen. allowing a finger’s electrical signal to control functions and allow users to switch between two SIM cards or use one SIM card and can connect to Wi-Fi. Each will be priced at about $99. Both phones will start shipping in the fourth quarter.
They’re not the most powerful smartphones, but as an entry-level smartphone they’re actually very nice. A trip around the interface impresses many, as they’re responsive and very functional, and for $99, they’re actually pretty exceptional.
Standard Features of the Nokia Asha:
* 800MHz processor
* WQVGA resolution
* 1,110mAh battery
* 20MB internal storage plus included 2GB micro-SD (expandable to 32GB)
* 2-mega-pixel rear camera and EDGE connectivity.
* The 308 also provides support for GSM/EDGE 850, 1900MHz bands and Easy Swap dual SIM accommodation.
* The 309 uses one SIM card and can connect to Wi-Fi