Nokia Targets Emerging Markets with 1110 and 1600 Handsets

Nokia 1110 and 1600Today in Nairobi, Kenya, Nokia introduced a pair of new entry level handsets for the world's growth markets. These new handsets, the Nokia 1110 and 1600, are Nokia's latest attempt to bring the cost of mobile phone ownership down to a level where people in less economically developed areas of the world will be able to afford and enjoy the benefits of modern day mobile technology.

The entry-level 1110 has a monochrome display and weighs a mere 80g. It will be available in white, blue, silver, light gray, mid gray, and dark brown. The cost of the handset should be about 65EUR before any taxes and subsidies are taken into account.

The 65k color display equipped 1600 weighs 5g more than the 1110, coming in at 85g in total. It will be available in black, white, light silver, and bluish silver. It will retail for about 85EUR before taxes and network subsidies.

Both devices should be available in the third quarter of this year and share such features in common as polyphonic ringtones, games, and a talking clock function. Each will be available in two different dual band configurations: 850/1900Mhz for the Americas, and 900/1800Mhz for the rest of the world. The user interface and menu system that are found in the new handsets have been simplified, and make more use of mnemonic icons and larger fonts. They will both have a demo mode that will introduce first time mobile phone users to the basic functions of the handsets, as well as let them to operate some of the functions without the presence of a SIM card.

Nokia also took this opportunity to introduce their new prepaid network solution. The Prepaid Tracker system, as it is called, will allow the prepaid phone user to see their minute balance at the end of each phone call, alleviating the need to call their operator to get that information. This, in turn, should lower the operator's costs. Nokia suspects that the system could help networks offer service for as low as US$5/month in emerging markets.

 

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