MWC 2013 Video: Nokia Cuts The Price, Keeps The Quality

It is a widely recognised fact that Nokia is not doing too well. By the end of last year, the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer was forced to sell and lease back its historic headquarters in Espoo, and last month, it refused to pay dividends to shareholders for the first time in two decades.

However, the design tradition that made Nokia a household name is still very much alive. The company shipped 16 million units in the last six months, most of these being ‘feature phones’. It also scooped up the “Smartphone Of The Year” award in the US for its Lumia 920, and brought four new handsets to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

Our colleagues from ITespresso Spain have tracked down Peter Skillman, VP for Mobile User Experience Design at Nokia, to ask him about the new phones, OS choice beyond Windows Phone 8 ,and opportunities in developing markets.

Nokia’s design language

Nokia announced four new phones at MWC. The first was the rugged Nokia 105, which manages to feature a colour display at a bargain-basement price of $20. According to Skillman, this device was designed for developing markets, but will also be available in Europe, and is perfect as a second phone.

Another phone launched at MWC was the Nokia 301, based on the familiar Series 40 platform. The device costs just $85 and offers 3G connectivity, ‘HD voice’ and dual-SIM support.

Then, there were the entry-level Lumia 520 and the mid-market Lumia 720, two surprisingly affordable Windows 8 devices.

During the interview, Skillman had confirmed that Nokia is looking “very closely” at the tablet market, but refused to give any more details.

To find out more about the new handsets, watch the video below:

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