Nokia eats crow, announces clamshells — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Handset market forecast goes up} Nokia eats crow, announces clamshells

15 Jun 2004 at 16:54 GMT Timo Poropudas

Nokia revised world handset market figures and forecasts up on Monday. At the same time it had to admit to lower market share. Nokia Mobile Phones also had to eat crow and admit that that the popularity of clamshell phones had taken it by surprise.

Earlier Nokia believed that customers were not that crazy about clamshell phone models.

Mid-range clamshells and products for new growth markets took center-stage today, as Nokia revealed the latest additions to its product portfolio at the annual Nokia Connection conference. Held simultaneously in Singapore and Helsinki, the conference also witnessed the launch of the world's smallest 3G GSM/WCDMA phone.
Nokia 6630

Chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila launched the products, including three clamshell phones and a 3G WCDMA smartphone aimed at bringing 3G to the broader market. Introducing the products, he said, "We have now sharpened our product portfolio in key areas, bringing new phones to the market in the mid-range, and adding more clamshells to our offering."

Nokia's ongoing commitment to growth markets was also evident, with the launch of two new color-screen phones tailored for these areas.

Nokia's newest 3G phone, the Nokia 6630 featured prominently at the conference, combining the benefits of 3G, EDGE and Series 60. The 6630 boosts personal information management in 3G WCDMA networks with secure access to corporate intranet and email at mobile broadband speeds.

The Nokia 6630 is the first dual-mode, tri-band handset designed to work on 3G (WCDMA), EDGE and 2G networks in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Nokia 6260Nokia also launched the Symbian OS-based 6260 phone, a business phone designed for mobile professionals. It offers the latest mobile technology features and applications, including push to talk, email, Bluetooth connectivity and a VGA camera in a fold design. The tri-band Nokia 6260 smartphone is based on the Symbian operating system and Series 60, the world's leading smartphone platform.

In the mid-range, the Nokia launched the 6170 model. It is a clamshell camera phone that combines stainless steel design with a feature set that emphasizes quality of life. The strength of this phone is its flexible messaging options: e-mail, instant messaging, MMS and push to talk all in one handset.
Nokia 6170

Nokia also announced two phones for the subscribers in growing markets. The Nokia 2650 is a small clamshell phone with a color display. It is Nokia's first color display phone in the entry category.

The Nokia 2600 is designed for small business owners and professionals. Of particular interest is the spreadsheet application for bookkeeping and customizable converter. Together, the Nokia 2600 and Nokia 2650 bring color displays to new price points. Color is now reaching entry-level phones.

In addition to the phones, Nokia launched a foldable keyboard with wireless Bluetooth connection. It serves an extension to Series 60 phones like the Nokia 6260 and Nokia 6630, enabling easy text input to phone applications, including e-mail. The wireless keyboard is compatible with Series 60 phones with Bluetooth support, and is addressed towards business users.

“We have killed some product plans, but all in all, we expect to launch a total of approximately 35 products globally this year," Ollila said.