Thursday, Mar 20, 2014
Dubai: Nokia is spreading its bets by adding the Android platform to attract a new set of users in emerging markets.
On Friday, the Finnish player is launching an entry-level smartphone — Nokia X — that sits between the Android and Windows platforms for Dh439. It will not have the Google Play store.
The dual-SIM handset features a four-inch touchscreen, dual core 1GHz processor, 512 MB RAM and supports expandable memory up to 32GB. The smartphone has a 3MP rear camera and no front-facing camera.
“The Nokia X line-up will compete with Android devices in the entry-level smartphone category and introduce the Microsoft services. We are targeting $200 smartphone users by giving them Nokia’s user interface with Nokia and Microsoft services. It has never been done before by any manufacturer,” Vithesh Reddy, general manager for Nokia Lower Gulf, said.
He said the sub-$200 price (Dh734) range is a big opportunity for the company and an opportunity for them to introduce a new family to strengthen their family.
“We do not want to restrict any user to one platform. We want to give them multi-platform on a single device,” Reddy said.
He said Nokia is going the same way Kindle went with its tablet.
Kindle has forked Android and added its own applications instead of Google Play store.
Nokia, once the number one smartphone manufacturer, lost its pole position with the growth of Android platform. Nokia is trying to rebuild its brand after launching Windows phones in the market. Right now, Windows is the third largest operating system after Android and Apple’s iOS with a market share of 3.2 per cent.
Reddy said that the Nokia X software platform is built upon Android Open Source Project based on Android 4.1.2 version, and “on top of that we’ve built the Nokia user experience layer”.
Nokia delinked the Google Play store and replaced it with Microsoft and Nokia App stores. Users will have no access to Google services except for Gmail. It takes users to Microsoft’s cloud instead of Google’s.
“There are several ways to access Android apps and Nokia Store is one of them. When combined with third party apps stores and side-loading apps, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of apps perfectly functioning out of the box,” Reddy said.
Nokia will be launching the Nokia XL with five-inch screen and 5MP camera in May for Dh599.
On whether Nokia will launch full versions of Android devices, he said that there is no change in our smartphone strategy. Windows phones will be our “key focus of business” and has no plans to stop Asha feature phones and it will remain part of the Nokia family.
“So far the demand has been positive in the markets we have launched,” he said and added that Nokia has high expectations for the three new models - Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL.
By Naushad K Cherrayil Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
