HMD Global Oy’s local business would closely monitor how consumers warm up to the return of the Nokia brand in the handheld device market.
“We’re very much focused on the customers here in the Philippines and how they react to [these Nokia’s new phones], [and] basically, their real life experiences [in using Nokia phones],” China Tanchanco, HMD Global Philippines head of marketing, told the BusinessMirror. “We actually develop our phones based on what our consumers want.”
Tanchanco spoke during the introduction to the Philippines of the iconic Nokia 3310, a handheld device that dominated the market prior to the entry of smartphones.
The company has emphasized the device’s battery life—22-hour talk-time and month-long standby time on a single charge.
“You can put this into your emergency survival kit if you need to,” said Shannon Mead, HMD Global country manager for Philippines and Singapore.
The 3310, which will be launched along with other Nokia phones, carries a price tag of P2,490 ($50.37 at current exchange rates). The other devices carrying the brand, Nokia 6, 5 and 3, will be priced at P11, 990, P9,990 and P6,990, respectively. Mead said research is important especially in finding out what consumers are asking for their products.
“One of the examples is when we [have] consumer research on Android, they [are] telling us the things that bother them,” Mead said. “[So] when we look on our strategy, you know, with Android, we’re really addressing those things.”
The International Data Corp. has said that Androids capture roughly 85 percent of the worldwide smartphone volume.
“Despite a slew of very attractive high-end Android products, IDC continues to see Android average selling prices (ASPs) decline and expectations are that the 1.5 billion Android phones that ship in 2021 will have a collective ASP of $198,” IDC said in a statement dated May 30. “Looking closer at 2018, the Middle East & Africa region for Android devices is expected to be the fastest growing at 10 percent year over year, which will well outpace the forecast for worldwide growth of 4.1 percent.”