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Nokia will slash prices of Windows Phone devices
FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia is so sure that its upcoming Windows Phone handsets will sell like hotcakes that its CEO Stephen Elop has already said that it will slash prices.
Nokia might not have been exhibiting at last week's Mobile World Congress, but its decision to jump into bed with Microsoft was the talk of the show, with many wondering if Elop's decision to hook up with his former employer would result in the firm releasing successful handsets. Barely a week since the announcement, Elop has said that he expects the price of Nokia handsets running Windows Phone software to reach "a very low price point", adding that Nokia has "become convinced that we can do that very quickly".
Usually companies slash prices on products when they are not selling well or when trying to clear stock for a new product. Given that Windows Phone is new for Nokia, that suggest the firm realises that it will have a hard time flogging Windows Phone devices.
Nokia's price cutting plan is not without precedent. In the US, Microsoft resorted to selling Windows Phone 7 devices on a buy-one-get-one-free basis in the hopes of boosting sales.
Elop is banking on Nokia loading Windows Phone on as many devices as possible through the firm's product range. With Google's Android starting to appear on devices priced below £100, Nokia will need to slash prices fast if it is to hold on in a market where it has traditionally been strong.
Elop also told Finnish journalists that he had sold all of his Microsoft shares on 17 February and purchased 150,000 shares in Nokia, days after it fell 20 per cent on the news of its tie-up with Microsoft.
Nokia had better hope that Elop's gamble of selling cut price Windows Phone handsets pays off, otherwise the future could start looking grim for the former titan of the feature phone business. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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The future could be bright for both Nokia and MS if they do things right.
If they somehow manage to come out of their mobile software caves and develop something mobile users really need (better maps, a quicker more efficient ui for everyday tasks like E-Mail, Ims and others) they might be onto something.
They just need to realiaze they're gambling a lot and they need to step up their game or else...
I for one will have one if they can make it cheaper than the ridiculous prices apple/adroid phones are going for. What is a phone for? Making calls, texting, and maybe some email and light web browsing - only if a computer is not accessible. I have used these phones for web and it is nothing compared to the experience you get with even a netbook. Occasionally the convenience of mobile internet would be nice. However its not worth the price for people like me.
The only area apple and android are ahead of WP7 is in the range of apps, and their stores have become so cluttered with useless little things that good apps are few and far between. Price is the most important thing for a lot of consumers. And if you can draw users in with the price, the apps will follow. Look at how fast android caught up to apple once the number of users increased. All nokisoft has to do is sell a lot at a cheap price then apps will appear and so will more users.
Then they don't have to get into this mess...
"a distribution arm for Microsoft."
That was the prime objective, as a precursor to takeover.
Haven't you been following ???
Dweeb
It's ironic that Nokia is now crowing about how cheap it can make hardware.
Everything Nokia said is reversed.
Nokia said it wanted to diversify its phones, so it avoided the popular Android OS which allows any modification Nokia would like, and instead joined the failed and closed Windows Phone 7, which doesn't allow any modification without Microsoft's permission. You're even forbidden from loading open-source GPL software onto Windows Phone 7.
Nokia said it didn't want to go down the slippery slope to cheap commodity hardware. Now it is forced to lower prices with Windows Phone 7. It might need to throw in some Xboxes to convince people to buy those Windows Phones.
Nokia CEO Elop looks like he doesn't understand the phone business one bit. He's reduced Nokia to being just a distribution arm for Microsoft.
Slashing prices on devices that have a hardware price premium (significantly more processor and memory to run Windows) has gotta hurt.
Boo hoo :-)))
Windows Phone 7 is a platform that nobody wants.
We've seen this before. Microsoft has been going to desperate lengths to sell these phones, giving away freebies such as Xboxes and Kinnects to sell a phone to someone who doesn't want the phone.
A Nokia badge will do nothing to help sales. People choose their phone according to what platform / OS / ecosystem it belongs. The public has already rejected Windows Phone 7, which suffers lacklustre sales, and people will continue to reject it from Nokia.
Windows Phone 7 handsets are ending up in landfill, just like Microsoft's previous Kin phones.