India Become The Largest Market For Nokia Globally

Nokia’s first year of operations after a re-entry into the mobile devices business has a strong India connect. Fuelled by feature phones and in some parts by Android-run smart devices, India has become the largest market for the company globally, enabled by its strong connect with buyers that dates back to the late nineties and early 2000s.

Owned by HMD Global, company is banking heavily on India for its resurgence at a time when the market is increasingly being dominated by Chinese heavyweights such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Huawei.

Florian Seiche, the newly-appointed CEO of HMD said “India is the company’s biggest market in terms of sales, and is followed by Russia and Indonesia. Engagement will grow manifold in India, especially as more and more mobile companies look at striking partnerships with device makers for budget devices. Nokia which is sourcing devices in India from contract manufacturer Foxconn’s factories is keeping a close watch on developments in the market. Our whole business model is built on partnerships, and we are looking at further engagement.

Nokia is already a strong player in feature phones having begun operations a few months back with yesteryears best-seller 3310. However, what the company lacks is 4G feature phones, which actually can be catastrophic for its revival considering that data is increasingly becoming the backbone of the Indian mobile market as companies like Reliance Jio are offering 4G-feature phones for as low as Rs 1,500.

Smartphone is another key area where the company now armed with Google’s Android operating system is focusing on. While the flagship Nokia 8 is priced at Rs 36,999 and was launched in September, the company on Tuesday announced the launch of its entry device Nokia 2 which is expected to retail at about 99 euros (nearly Rs 7,500, though India price will be announced over the next few weeks).