Nokia to focus on sub-Rs6,000 handsets

Mobile-phone maker Nokia is pinning its hopes on the
sub-Rs6,000 handsets as it sees volumes in the bottom-of-the-pyramid market growing by 5-7%.

“The growth projections in sub-Rs6,000 segment at 5-7% look small, but on a wider base the growth would be significant. In other segments, including smartphones, the growth projections seem to be huge since the base is small,” Jasmeet Gandhi, head of services marketing, Nokia India, said.

Not willing to provide specific numbers, he said the contribution from the sub-Rs6,000 segment is significant for Nokia’s operations in India.

“We are going to focus on this segment and there are going to be more product launches in this category during the current year. At any point, we are keeping 30-40 handset models in this category,” Gandhi said.

The handset major is pegging its projections on the category based on a survey jointly done with Nielsen.

According to the survey, Nokia has stayed on the top of the list as a top brand and the internet browsing on mobiles is seen driving its sales.

The survey was done with about 3,000 samples in eight cities in the age group of 15-35 years.

“The requirements in a mobile handset and usage pattern too have changed completely in a year. People used to look at brand, price, FM feature and other such factors while choosing a handset till last year. The survey shows that the users are keen on having a mobile that is compatible for browsing and not just email,” he said.

According to him, apart from the brand, screen resolution, camera, internet connectivity and type of input format (touch screen, qwerty, etc) have become important in mobile.

“Browser speed is a key issue. With the demand for a speedy browser coming up, we have launched our own browser last month,” he said.

Though the sub-Rs6,000 category would hold the key for it, on a larger perspective, Nokia is hoping to see the mobile sales getting driven by the internet browsing.