Nokia, the world's biggest phone maker, on Monday signalled its intention to stay ahead of its rivals in Asia with a new range of handsets aimed at the region's increasingly tech-savvy consumers. An estimated 1.8 million people world-wide become mobile phone users for the first time each day, with a sizeable number coming from Southeast Asia.
The subcontinent and China, the Finnish giant said. Some expect Internet access with their very first phone, it added. "The Asia Pacific market has been an extremely important region for Nokia over the years and remains hugely important to Nokia," said Mary McDowell, executive vice president and chief development officer. "Asian consumers' eagerness to use technology makes this region a great place to introduce new devices and services," she said in a keynote speech at the opening of the Nokia Connection show held annually in Singapore.
The roadshow is being held ahead of CommunicAsia 2009, where rival phone makers will showcase their products from Tuesday. The new Nokia line-up includes the E72 smartphone with a fully "QWERTY" keyboard. It comes with a more powerful camera than the popular E71 and easy set-up of instant messaging accounts such as Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk.
Nokia also announced the new music-oriented 5530 Xpress phone with a touch screen aimed mainly at younger consumers, and the compact 3710 device offering quick Internet access. "The next phase of growth will be very much driven by the emerging markets, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam," said Chris Carr, Nokia's vice president for regional sales.
Comments
Comments are closed.