With Lumia 520, Nokia takes smartphones to masses

Affordability is scoring big in Finnish handset major Nokia’s scheme of things. It intends to offer Lumia smartphones at affordable price points to have an edge in the smartphone market and gain consumer confidence, the company said on Wednesday as it announced the launch of Lumia 520 at Rs 10,500 in the Indian market.

“We have had 800, 900 (Lumia models), we have been operating at the price points of about Rs 30,000 and over time, we are bringing that experience down to an affordable price point. The strategy behind this was to offer uncompromised experience of a high end smartphone at affordable price points,” Vipul Mehrotra, director and head of Smart Devices, Nokia, told DNA.

“We want to broaden the reach of Lumia experience and the only way you would do that is by building a pricing pyramid,” he added.

Nokia is competing in the Indian mobile handsets market with two engines -- Asha and Lumia series smartphones. While Asha series plays an important role despite the lower price points, Lumia is their flagship smartphone.

The company also announced its Lumia 720 model, which will be available in the market in mid April. While the price for the Indian market has not been decided yet, it should be close to its global pricing 249 euros (Rs 17,500 approx).

Talking about enhancing the consumer experience Mehrotra said Nokia has been the first company to bring in insurance for its devices. “Now that we have a portfolio, we are bringing initiatives like this and are capturing the heart and mind of consumers, along with a stellar product line. Design will always be the faith of Nokia and there will be complementary initiatives like insurance and EMI.”

Lumia 520 is powered by Windows Phone 8 and contains a handful of features its high-end siblings offer, including the same digital camera lenses as well as maps and navigation from HERE, free music streaming and a 4-inch super sensitive touchscreen.

The phone offers 7GB of free online SkyDrive storage as well as Microsoft Office with Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Lumia 720 has a unibody design and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus mobile processor optimised for the Windows Phone 8 experience. The curved 4.3’’ clear black display with super sensitive touch brings an innovative lamination process for wider viewing angle.

The phones are available in bright colours, including yellow, red, cyan, white and black and with changeable shells, and will be available in early April.