Nokia has launched the 105 feature phone in India, priced at Rs. 1,249. The phone boasts of a colour display along with a colourful body.
The Nokia 105 is the successor to the Nokia 1280, a device that sold more than 100 million units. It’s a clear sign that the era of black and white display budget phones has ended, and that even the most basic entry-level phone will sport a colour display.
The Nokia 105 has a candy bar form factor, weighs 70 grams and is 14.3mm thick. It has a 1.4-inch display with a 128×128 pixel resolution. The phone has a traditional keypad with three alphabets per key input. The phone has no Bluetooth, no dual-SIM, and no expandable storage but does house a 3.5mm headphones jack. It also supports FM.
The 105 has an 800mAh battery and Nokia says that the phone will last for 12.5 hours of talk time and 842 hours of standby time. It has 384kb built-in storage along with 8MB of mass storage. You can take a look at the detailed specifications at Nokia’s 105 page.
T S Sridhar, Regional General Manager (South), Nokia India told PTI, “The very human and fresh design of Nokia 105 makes it distinct in this price range, and utterly modern despite a traditional form factor. Our most affordable device with some of the best category features, is the ideal handset for first time buyers to enjoy the benefits and experiences of mobility,” Sridhar said.
Nokia has claimed that the phone comes with a 35-day battery backup. Priced at Rs. 1,249, the Nokia 105 is aimed at those who are yet to purchase their first phone ever and is on a very tight budget. As of writing this story, the device isn’t available on flipkart or saholic.
Nokia will be soon manufacturing new phones at its Chennai facility for the domestic and global markets.
Sridhar also points to a GFK Nielsen study that says India’s sub-Rs. 2,000 phone market accounted for 60 per cent of the 1.3 crore phone sales. About 85 percent of sales were of phones priced below Rs 4,000.
A recent CMR report said Nokia still dominates in the feature phones segment and has about 22.5 percent of share in terms of unit shipments in this segment. It also rules overall mobile phone market with 21.8 percent. It’s notable feature phones shipment of a 19.9 percent growth in 2012.
In smartphone segment, Samsung leads the market at 43.1 percent share, whereas Nokia has just 13.3 percent. Check out our previous coverage on the CMR report.
Source: The Hindu Business Line