Nokia unveiled a new C5 smartphone model on Tuesday, hoping to benefit from a booming demand for cheap smartphones and from rising consumer appetite for mobile social networking.
The handset features direct access to favourite contacts on the device homescreen and Facebook status updates visible from the phonebook. In addition to social networking, users have access to Ovi Mail, Nokia Messaging, Ovi Maps, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2GB memory card and high-speed mobile broadband. Currently it is available in white or warm grey with a 2.2-inch screen. The price for the set has been fixed 135 euros ($183), excluding taxes and subsidies, and hitting the shelves next quarter, and are likely to be shipped in select markets during the second quarter.
Taslking to Economic Times, John Strand, chief of telecoms consultancy Strand Consult said, “This will grow Nokia marketshare in the smartphone segment and help them to increase their average sale prices.” The market of smartphone are seen surging in 2010, with some analysts forecasting up to 50 percent growth, as handset vendors are pushing advanced features, once exclusive to pricey top-end models, into cheaper and cheaper phones. Nokia continues to lead the global smartphone market with an around 40 per cent market share, but it has lost ground to Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry.
