Nokia world's 5th valuable brand

Improved performance in 2007 has made mobile handset equipment manufacturer Nokia, valued at ¤35 billion (Rs 2,20,500 crore), the world's fifth most valuable brand after Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM and General Electric.

"Nokia accounts for 64 per cent of the industry profit and has 38 per cent market share worldwide. We have moved up from number six in 2006 to number five in 2007," D Shivakumar, V-P and MD, Nokia India, said.

India, which is adding over 70 lakh new mobile subscribers every month, has a major role in Nokia's overall growth. The country has become the second largest market for the company after China.

With annual turnover at ¤3.6 billion, India contributed nearly seven per cent to Nokia's total global revenue of ¤51 billion in 2007, Shivakumar said.

Asked if India will become the number one market, Shivakumar said, "China is giving us a business of ¤5.9 billion compared with India's ¤3.6 billion... It will take some time to reach that level."

He said that the Finnish company has invested $210 million to set up a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and "today the Indian facility is perhaps one of the best among nine factories that Nokia has worldwide."

"Quality and cost wise, India is perhaps the best factory. Nokia is exporting Made in India cell phones to more than 50 countries," Shivakumar said. Nokia was also planning to invest $75 million in its manufacturing facility to ramp up its capacity, he said.

The company entered India 12 years ago and today it has three research and development (R&D) centres and a strong 1,10,000 points-of-sale covering the length and breadth of the country.

Nokia has an estimated 10 crore new mobile subscribers in India and the company has devised a strategy for its growth through a mix of new users, replacement users and service users.