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Timo Toikkanen Executive Vice President (Mobile Phones), Nokia has been in charge of the initiative to help the next billion people connect to the internet through feature and affordable smartphones. In an interaction with media person post launch of next generation Asha platform, Toikkanen shares his insights on the high-stake game of capturing the sub-$100-handset market for the Finnish mobile major:
On significance of the sub-$100 market for Nokia
Affordable smart phones are the fastest growing segment in the world. The sub-$100 device market will be $40 billion in size by 2015. We are one of the leading players in the market with existing first generation Asha devices. Now through the second generation platform we will build out a whole family of devices in the next step of our journey. We will continue to build on our strong position over what we have built with the first generation.
On regaining sales momentum of Asha series through the next generation platform
We have a very clear strategy in the mobile phone space of connecting the next billion people. It was an important step when we entered the touch devices market last year. This (platform launch) is now a significant chapter in that journey. This is a completely new platform when new design language, new colours, and features. This offers a truly optimised affordable smartphone experience in the world.
We have a different philosophy when it comes to affordable smart phones. We are not trying to take some features from high end smart phones from different smart phones and shrink it down by making compromises in architecture or hardware. Instead we have taken a fresh look at this market and designed things specifically for it. We optimised things that are important for this market, custom-build for this market. For instance, power management. Unlike many other smart phones you don’t need to charge them many times. This is very power efficient phone something you don’t typically see in a smart phone.
On Nokia developing a sub $50 smart phone
We already have many devices which are sub-$50 (non-smart phones). But now with this new platform we will introduce other members of the same family at different price points. Today we are celebrating the first member of the family. We already have a 3G version in the works.
On small screen size of Asha 501 compared to other competitive models
We aimed at giving best affordable smart phone at sub-$99 that is custom build and optimised for best consumer experience. We feel best consumer experience is not one thing but combination of several parameters. We wanted the experience to be very fast and the screen to be very responsive, the battery time to last longer and the phone to be pocketable. All those things were best achieved with this particular packaging. We did not focus on technical parameters but on what experience we provide to end users.
On effectiveness of the duel strategy of Lumia and Asha
We have been following a duel strategy of winning the smart phone with Lumia and connecting the next billion with Asha. We have been executing this strategy for last two years and making good progress. This particular family of devices will play a very important role in our future plans. They are part of the fastest growing mobile segment in the industry.
On feature phones being phased out
Consumer demand will decide if ever touch and smart phones will replace feature phones. We have seen over the years as touch and smart phones enter lower price points they have eaten into the feature phone market.
