Nokia Adds Smartphone-Like Features to New Basic Phones

   By Sven Grundberg 
 

STOCKHOLM-- Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp (NOK) Monday unveiled two additions to its increasingly successful portfolio of basic mobile phones aimed at less affluent customers in emerging markets.

The two new Nokia devices -- the Asha 205 and the Nokia 206 -- both cost $62 and are expected to start shipping before the end of the year.

The new devices run on Nokia's home-grown Series 40 software, a basic mobile phone operating system that was first introduced by Nokia more than a decade ago, in 1999. The software has been upgraded in recent years and now supports several smartphone-like functions, including social networking apps such as Facebook and Twitter, and a web browser that compresses websites so reducing data consumption. The new Asha 205 even has a dedicated Facebook button that gives users instant access to the popular social network.

Once market leader in mobile phone sales, Nokia has slipped badly as it struggles to compete against Apple Inc. (AAPL) Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) at the high-end of the smartphone market. But the Finnish company is starting to stage a comeback on developing markets, where basic mobile phones typically sell for $99 or less.

The addition of smartphone features on basic phones has helped Nokia to fend off competition from increasingly cheap devices running Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android platform, and bode well for Nokia's continued success in developing countries, where many mobile subscribers can't afford expensive all-you-can-eat data plans and where mobile data networks aren't as capable or widespread as in more developed parts of the world, said Timo Toikkanen, who heads Nokia's mobile phones business.

Much of Nokia's recent success on developing markets has been driven by a new range of touch-screen Asha devices that the company introduced this summer. These new Asha devices are outselling cheap Android devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Mini and Galaxy Y models in many developing markets, and are also proving popular in some European markets, such as Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey.

"Currently, the Asha 305 is the best selling touch-screen device across India, Africa and the Middle East," Mr. Toikkanen said.

Write to Sven Grundberg at [e-mail]; Twitter: @svengrundberg

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