Microsoft and Nokia to attack low-end smartphone markets

Lumia 520

Microsoft and Nokia are planning to tackle the smartphone market place and hitting hard with new low-end hardware, according to a report by Reuters. With multiple high-end products from Nokia, HTC, and Samsung already available, the company is now looking at the cheaper price points that attract a large portion of consumers. The Lumia 521 is such a Windows Phone that Microsoft hopes volition win over the minds of consumers.

Terry Myerson, head of the Windows Phone unit of measurement, had the post-obit to say on the move:

"There is an opportunity for us to offer a very high quality device in the mainstream. That's where nosotros've fabricated progress in the last couple of months and it's a strategy nosotros'll continue to explore in the Us."

The Lumia 521, a variant of the Lumia 520 (they just accept to name 'em differently), went on sale on the Abode Shopping Network last week, where the product has already sold out. The Lumia 521 sports not only 4G connectivity, but also includes a 4-inch screen and a five MP camera. If that wasn't enough, wireless charging is also bachelor with optional covers.

The Nokia Windows Telephone will go on sale at Walmart starting next week. The $150 price tag will exist coupled with T-Mobile's $thirty unlimited data and SMS programme. This is said to work out much cheaper than heavily subsadised iPhones and Android hardware. Information technology seems to be working in certain markets and Microsoft hopes to replicate that success in the states. According to the company, information technology has as much as 20 percent of the market place in regions such as United mexican states and Poland.

Lumia 520

Myerson continues:

"It (subsidization) is a compelling business model for them. If you lot are Samsung, Apple, AT&T or Verizon, it'due south where everything's working, you are growing share, y'all are growing profits. If you are an incumbent with a successful business model, you're not going to be jumping to throw information technology out. I don't retrieve we've come up well-nigh to the total potential. Those are our two dimensions hither, Office and Xbox. We want to bring to life getting work done and bring to life that serious fun, here on this affair in your pocket. That'due south going to develop over time."

Information technology'south clear that Microsoft has an array of products it can utilize to add more features to the overall Windows Phone experience. The but hurdle still remains is to sell the platform to the consumer. Do the U.s.a. mobile operators assistance matters? Probably not, merely Microsoft will have to work its programme hard to break through, as it has done overseas.

Source: Reuters

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