Manufacturer seeks to lower handset price and reduce operators' expenses
Nokia grabbed headlines last week when it announced plans to sell phones in the mainland market for as low as Euro45 ($452).
But the Finnish manufacturer believes it must do far more than lower the price of handsets for cost-sensitive Chinese consumers. It must also lower costs for operators China Mobile and China Unicom.
'Affordability is about handsets and the mobile services,' Nokia's networks director for new growth markets, Rauno Granath, said.
'Air travel used to be expensive and now it is much cheaper. Affordability is found in different passenger classes, but they all reach the same destination. In the same way, we are making voice and text messaging services more affordable.'
Mobile phone manufacturers aim to increase penetration by another billion customers worldwide, much of this in developing markets such as India and China.
