Nokia faces a dealer rebellion

MUTINY HAS BROKEN OUT among retailers in China who are boycotting Nokia's phones in protest over fines the world's largest mobile maker has slapped on them for selling outside their assigned territories.

Some 40 shops in the Communications City district of Jinan, located in Shandong province, have erected a red banner that reads "protect the interests and rights of consumers, refuse to sell Nokia".

The dealers consider the fines excessive, and say Nokia is strangling their chances of success. They are asking the mobile giant to explain why it imposed such large penalties and return the money to them, which they say they can't afford to lose.

Nokia dealers in Hangzhou province have joined in, asking the Finnish manufacturer to return punitive fines. More than 200 of Nokia's Chinese dealers met in Changsan, Hunan in May to consider a similar protest there.

The dealers have also accused Nokia's sales agent in China, a third party company, of tax evasion, saying it doesn't provide them with receipts for the fines it levies.

Nokia denies the suggestion that there's any tax evasion and says it doesn't even have any business relationships with some of the protesting resellers. µ

L'Inq
China Tech News