Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has recently announced the newest low-end member in the Nokia Asha family: Nokia Asha 310.
In yet a new effort from the Finnish manufacturer, the Nokia Asha Touch smartphone will be available to purchase starting in quarter one of 2013 in Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Brazil for $102. In Brazil, the phone will include a 2GB memory card. The Asha 310 has been conceived to bring quick profit to the company at the same time that it continues its campaign to bring more people online at a very low cost. Indeed, this is something that benefits both customers and Nokia.
Multi-talented
The one new thing that Nokia has given to the Asha 310 is a powerful combination of Dual SIM and WiFi. This is the first Nokia phone featuring this powerful combination.
I can think of several good uses for this. It seems like the perfect alternative for those looking to have a work and personal phone in one. It's also a good alternative when traveling. Using the external slot for a local SIM card can significantly reduce costs, while keeping the main SIM card in place behind the battery. It is possible to store profiles of up to five SIM cards. The phone is also packed with great apps and a gift of 40 EA games that can be downloaded from Nokia Store.
Nokia's new Asha 310 boasts a combination of Dual SIM and WiFi at a $100 price point. Will low-cost devices save the Finnish phone provider?
This strategy to gain market share in developing markets seems to be working well for Nokia. The Asha 310 is the 15th Nokia phone bringing smartphone features to a handset at a very competitive price. Nokia has been struggling in the smartphone market, losing market share to companies like Apple and Samsung. However, Nokia remains strong in its huge quality patent portfolio, which brings a lot of value to the company.
Low-end salvation?
The big question now is if this strategy with the low-end smartphones will bring Nokia enough profit in the upcoming years. Nokia's hardware and design have always been of exceptional quality. If not the leader in the high-end smartphone market, Nokia seems to be well positioned to lead the low-end market, which is without a doubt a market in constant growth.
According to market analyst Trefis, Nokia's value is not only as a handset manufacturer, but the sum of the values of its divisions, plus cash, minus debt. Nokia Siemens Networks is the most important division, and holds 34 percent of the Trefis stock price estimate, while Nokia Emerging Markets Mobile Phones division counts with 15 percent of the stock price. All in all, Trefis says that Nokia is worth $5. There is also a potential growing demand for the Nokia Lumia Windows Phones that could turn into an upside in the stock.
As we can see, not all has been said about this company that keeps on surviving heavy storms, and sailing toward more clear waters.
Probably Nokia has figured out that not everybody wants a $400 phone that does everything. And possibly not everybody likes the shape of those phones, and the lack of actual keys. Consider that not everybody wants to drive a Lincoln Towne Car or a big fat Cadillac, nor even a Rolls Royce. There is indeed a nice niche for phones that "do phone stuff" and not much else. Caller ID and the answering machine function are the main extras that some of us would limit a phone to. BUT if Nkia can make the package more robust and durable then they can certainly gain a chunk of the business.
Nothing more left for OEMs operating in smartphone business - gambling, that's what i would call it. Apple's rumoured to venture into smart wrist watch amid conjestion and competition in smartphone markets. Nokia now came up with 2 dual sim-card phone. All these 2 have long been in markets for sometimes and their prices are far too ridiculous - low prices. You never know, big boys at times have resources and capability to spring surprises. What do you think?
That questions may have several answers all at the same time.
In some part of Africa, an average person has minimum of two sims while at one time or the other, four sims is still normal to have,this is caused by so many reasons though.
Nokia cannot afford to get dumped out mobile scene - the markets are indeed becoming more interesting unlike when the Nokia was top brand phone and also lots of value added applications are increasing on daily.
One thing is Nokia's schrewdness in its hardware contributed to decisions of either joining Andorid or Windows in the first instance.
@t.alex I haven't ever worked with one. Even when I had a job that required a cell phone, it was my own and not monitored by work. My husband gets a work-issued Blackberry, though, and some applications are disabled -- the same ones that are blocked by the servers at the office.
International regulations should prompt the supply chain to reconsider product design and to develop a competitive strategy for the benefit of the planet.
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Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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