Nokia to focus on apps for low-price segment growth

Leading mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, which accounts for a market share of 39 per cent in India, on Monday said it would innovate on applications and features for data browsing in a bid to continue its dominance in the sub-Rs 6,000 category.

“The segment at this price point is growing at five-six per cent. While the percentage is not much, the installed base itself is huge in India,” said Jasmeet Gandhi, head (services marketing), Nokia India.

“Indians use internet on the phone more for browsing, and less for emails. The expectation is to buy a phone with inbuilt features like chat and mail, but at a lower price point,” Gandhi said.

“The advantage will come from the additional value one can offer. This includes innovate apps that need to be localised. Given the size of the market at this price point, the challenge is to package more and more features in this price point. The ability to create a phone with a better, smarter ecosystem would determine our success,” he said.

He added the company would try to capitalise on the fact that according to a recent survey by Nielsen, the majority of respondents said faster internet browsing speed was what defined a good mobile phone. The survey covered 3,000 people across eight cities in India. It found 73 per cent of users were under 35 years of age. Most mobile internet users are youngsters and browsing, followed by email/chat and social networking, was their primary concern.

In India, the internet user base is currently 47 million, of which 11.8 million people use the net on their mobile phones. Internet usage in India is growing at around 300 per cent year-on-year.

Nokia had recently announced a tie-up with ecommerce company eBay, for an eBay-Nokia app. More such apps, with many such tie-ups, may be in the offing.