With hi-end Lumia, Nokia takes on iPhone, S3

Finnish mobile maker Nokia is betting on a wide range of its Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices to gain smartphone market share even as it plans to launch aggressive campaigns to promote the products.

The company on Thursday launched Lumia 920, 820 and 620 across various price points, including the high-end range.

“The learning from the past has been – choice. We intend to provide more choice for users across price bands. We are working with partners across the board to take the Lumia experience to more and more consumers faster,”  Vipul Mehrotra, director and head of smart devices at Nokia Devices, said.

“We will ensure that the marketing of the devices is experiential. We will talk about how our devices are better than others in the market,” he said.

With a range of accessories and partnerships to bring wireless charging outside the home, the company is also kick-starting wireless charging into the mainstream.

“All this innovative adds up to one thing – it’s time to switch,” Vipul said.

During January-June, the country’s total handset shipments stood at 102.43 million units, including 5.50 million smartphones, according to CyberMedia Research.

In smartphones , Nokia’s share was 19.2%, while Samsung’s share stood at 41.6%.  
The company said Lumia 920 and 820 will be available in select stores in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad initially and Lumia 620 will start retailing early February.
While Lumia 920 is the flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone, including the latest advances in Nokia PureView imaging innovation, Nokia Lumia 820 is a mid-range smartphone. The Nokia Lumia 620 completes the range of latest Lumia WP8 devices with a more fun and youthful appeal.

“The launch of Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 on WP8 has instantly catapulted Windows phone into the high-end smartphone shoot-out with their unique innovations,” P Balaji, managing director and vice-president, Nokia India said.

While Lumia 920 is priced at Rs38,199, Lumia 820 is priced at Rs27,559.