It's been a rather good start of the year for Nokia. The company has made actual profit, thanks to intense cost reduction and growing business, as well as its Lumia family of Windows Phones performing rather well in a number of markets. The company is pushing hard and not only is it attracting new customers, but existing consumers with Nokia hardware are behind the company and products they own, thanks to great support and software offerings.
Now a report has come in that Nokia is the most trusted brand in India, beating Samsung and Sony to the punch. India, along with Asia and Russia have been targeted for Lumia Windows Phones and progress is being made, slowly but surely. Both high-end and low-end devices have been launched in said markets to take full advantage of consumer groups.
This is superb news for Nokia, who retains the title in the important emerging market. Not only that, but it's a good deal for Microsoft too with the manufacturer building and marketing Windows Phone. We're not looking at numbers as such here, but more awareness that can be capitalised on by both Nokia and Microsoft.
The manufacture is looking at upcoming Mobile World Congress to hold a press conference and rumour has it they will unveil a new flagship Windows Phone. We could well be looking at Verizon as the official destination in the states, but outside the US is where it could get interesting. With such powerful and advanced hardware being released, the trust in Nokia could be converted into sales and avid supporters of Windows Phone.
Nokia is also running a reality television show in India which will see consumers present app ideas to a panel of judges, with the chosen ideas made into apps for the platform. It's a unique take on bringing together Windows Phone consumers and the companies / developers behind the apps to provide more variety on the store.
Source: India Times; thanks, riffraffy, for the tip!
Reader comments
India loves Nokia. Rated most trusted brand, beating Samsung and Sony
I took my Nokia Lumia 820 up Ben Nevis this Winter. It was -25 degrees on the summit. My Nokia survived without ANY issues my friends iPhone died. I will forever trust Nokia :D
Thank you come again.
Sort of off colour humour there...
Nokia need to capitalize the brand recognition they have in India.
I don't mind if Samsung occupies first place but it does not give a shit about windows phone.
No WP8 phones from Samsung in India.
In contrary they released all galaxy phones and tablets in India within one month of US and UK launches.
Last week they released galaxy grand with same specs as galaxy s2 but 5 inch screen for rs21000 (5000 less than galaxy s2) with same specs as S2. They know that India is a big market and smartphone growth very high. So they released Grand in India before any acountry at very competitive price.
Nokia need to release the phones at the same time as US and UK launches. They released 920, 820 2 months late.
Nokia also need to price the 620 for 15000 to have any chance of getting market share in India.
Two of my friends who never owned a smartphone are going to buy galaxy grand just because of screen size(even though low resolution) and price.
Nokia also need to release devices like grand with big screen sizes at good prizes.
They need to price the phones at same prices or less as competitors.
You cannot launch a phone with similar specs as competitors after 6-8 months and at much higher prices. That is what happened with 920. The price difference between S3 and 920 is now 5000 (920 is costly).
Come on Nokia. Release the phones immediately and at good prices.
Don't ignore India. It may not be the largest market in the world. But its definitely one of the fastest growing markets and there are many people who still don't own any smartphone.
As an Indian and windows phone lover I really want to see Nokia and windows phone to prosper.
Specs of S3 and 920 are not similar. There is a major difference in my opinion and I am sure plenty will agree with me.
Just because your friends want to buy 5-inch sub-par device, doesn't mean Nokia should release one.
Your friends will soon realize that how much inconvenient those 5-inch phones will be in real-life usage.
I am talking about the situation in India. Honestly from android 4.1, android is not as laggy it is used to be.
You are saying specs of S3 and 920 are not same. Yes, s3 has quad core processor and its faster when doing many things parallely. But snapdragon on 920 is faster on core to core basis.
You and me will only buy windows phones because we love them. But normal really care about apps and games. There are so many local apps (music streaming, banking etc.) are not available on windows phone. Android also has so many games.
This is the truth if you agree or not. Microsoft need to push developers who are developing for windows 8 to make for phones as well.
I own a red Nokia Lumia 920. I rest my case.
Smart people right there!
Reminds me, when I first bought Motorola C350 & 1 guy from village said its useless piece of sh*t.. Unless its Nokia.. One doesn't simply trust a brand.. And then I bought Nokia N-gage QD. Which served me 6 years 2004-2010 and its still with me & it works.. The org I work for made me an isheep for abt 2 years.. But now I'm back in the league with 920. And its the most awesomest phone I ever had.
My Motorola razr V9 was an awesome phone. I could be wrong, but I think Google wrecked Motorola in a lot of ways.
Nokia has ALWAYS been one of the trusted brands in India.
Samsung entered bit early in India, that's why I got Samsung Omnia W else Nokia only!
I am indian... i ditch Galaxy SIII for Lumia 920... and i trust Nokia from heart...
I used HTC heavily till Nokia released the 710 then switched to att with three lines bought three 900's and then bought the 920 for me
Well.. I'll be true..i had never owned a Nokia phone before my white 920..even if almost everyone I knew had one..be it family or pals.. That was because of Symbian..once it went WP..it was my obvious choice!!
Btw Every WP device i came across in my vicinity expect my earlier Samsung focus was a Nokia one.,
Nokia might just be Microsoft's entry to Indian market..they have a very limited presence here..
As an Indian I can tell you that Nokia has been trusted brand for almost a decade or more. For their build quality,cheap phones,comparitively better after sales support, easier navigation on phones etc. That's when Samsung,Sony were almost non-existent.
I am from India with a Lumia 820 Yellow. I have always been a Nokia'n. And I always suggest Nokia to any one. It's the most trusted brand in India.
Maybe I'll have my next vacation in India just out of pure respect for those smart people in there :]
This has always been a frustration. Here in Iran, Nokia and SonyEricsson have been mainstream brands for cellphones. Samsung wasn't even there and the talk was always about these two brands. I was an SE guy (didn't like the plastic-y look of Nokia and hated Symbian at the time) but the majority went with Nokia.
Now, when my friend asked the Nokia "representative" here whether any Lumias would appear in Iran, the guy responded "who buys Nokia in this day and age?!" It's all Samsung now, and I've started to notice more and more iPhones .
Nokia never cared to release any high-end devices here. But you can see SIII and Note II ads EVERYWHERE. Nokia lost a huge market. They had people's trust, but now people only think of Nokia as a former feature phone maker that doesn't exist anymore.
I myself would never buy a cheap Samsung or a messy Android. I was trying to ship a Lumia overseas, but I couldn't find anyone there to buy an unlocked version for me. Also it would've been too expensive.
Here everyone knows Windows. It's pretty much the only PC OS (everyone uses pirated copies, because MS isn't here either). People like it. If Nokia had true presence here (like they did before), and if they could manage to price their devices competetively in this market, just the Windows name would've carried them to the top. It furiates me that they don't even care.
Which os do you think SE ran when Nokia was running symbian?
The equivalent to Nokia's S40. The one with no name. The one currently on my J20 Hazel. Not the one on the SE P1 and the rest of SE's hard to use phones!