Despite just launching its cheapest Lumia smartphone to date in the Lumia 520, Nokia may go even lower in the price stakes in order to draw in new customers.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal at MWC 2013, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop seemed to hint at newer and even cheaper devices coming later in the year. When asked if other affordable Lumia phones would arrive, he would only smile and assure that “there’s still a lot of excitement to come in 2013.”
Of course, Nokia is expected to launch one or two new flagship phones much later in the year, and so this could be what Elop is hinting at. We’ve heard many whispers of a phone codenamed the Nokia EOS that will replace the Lumia 920, with other reports suggesting a model known as the Nokia Catwalk will replace the Lumia 820.
Nokia launched four new mobile phones this week at the annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. Two were new Lumia smartphones – the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720 – representing entry level and mid-range options respectively and expanding Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 range to five devices.
The Finnish company also went back to its roots and revealed a super basic, super cheap €15 mobile in the Nokia 105. Whilst it’s hardly going to generate the same excitement we see from new smartphone launches, such a device is still hugely popular in developing countries. Nokia says it will replace the 1280, which has sold over 100 million units to date.
Nokia was once the king in emerging markets thanks to its cheap and affordable mobiles. However, as countries evolve in terms of infrastructure, networks and such, more people in ‘developing markets’ are turning to the super-cheap Android phones from the likes of ZTE, Huawei and even Samsung. It’s this change that could prompt Nokia to launch a sub-£100 Lumia smartphone to act as a rival to the cheap Androids flooding the market today.
The new Lumia 520 is priced at around £140 and aimed at the pay as you go user who wants a smartphone but doesn’t want to pay a lot. It offers Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system, expandable storage and a funky and colourful design.