Nokia May Go Even Lower - Wall Street Journal (blog)

By Ben Rooney BARCELONA–Nokia CEO Stephen Elop dropped his biggest hint yet that the Finnish phone company is working on an even lower-end Window Phone device to be priced below their just-launched Lumia 520. Although Mr. Elop wouldn't be drawn on the subject, he did nothing to deny suggestions that the €139 Lumia 520, which was launched here at Mobile World Congress Monday, would not be the cheapest device in the range. Talking to The Wall Street Journal, when asked about other low-end devices, Mr. Elop said only "There still a lot of excitement to come in 2013." When suggested that that meant a device below the 520 he would only smile and repeat "Let's just say there's still a lot of excitement to come in 2013." Mr. Elop had taken to the stage to launch four new devices, two right at the bottom of Nokia 's range, and two Lumia products, the entry-level 520 and the mid-range 720. But it was the cheap phones that attracted the most attention, especially the launch of a €15 phone, the kind of mass-market device that once, but no longer, made Nokia the world's largest phonemaker. The new phone replaces the Nokia 1280, a device that Mr. Elop had sold more than 100 million units. However, while such devices once made Nokia a king, its crown is dented and tarnished as consumers in emerging markets increasingly look to cheap Android devices that are available at around $100, not quite double the price of the lowest Nokia Lumia device. When Mr. Elop launched the Lumia range in October 2011, he also launched a cheaper range of phones, called the Asha, aimed at emerging markets. The phones offer a smartphone-like experience, but not the real deal. Mr. Elop told delegates at Mobile World Congress that they would be working on making it easier for consumers to transition from the Asha range to the Lumia. Nokia claims that it was pressure from them that persuaded Microsoft to lower the specifications for Windows Phone, allowing Nokia to try to compete in its traditional markets. He said there wasn't a shift in strategy by the company and said the introduction of cheaper devices was not related to suggestions of poor sales of the Lumia devices. He said that the Lumia range had sold about 14-15 units. (This post was originally published on Tech Europe, which is covering the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.) via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGlwFTvAFoUwZX6Oqkcpmvu34UYYA&url=http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/02/26/nokia-may-go-even-lower/

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