The Hindu Business Line : Nokia offers E-series at various price points

Recently in London Nokia appears to be eyeing a share of the laptop market by launching several mobile devices in the E-series at various price points. These devices offer several laptop and desk phone applications including Internet telephony, voice mail, email, calendars, accessing office Intranet and using WiFi access within office for PABX facilities such as call transfer and conference calls.

“This can be your desktop. Your desk phone can be on this phone,” Mr Antti Vasara, Senior Vice-President, Mobile Devices Unit, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia said while launching the company’s latest E-series device — E51. Priced at €350, minus taxes or subsidies, the E51 would hit the Indian market early in the October-December quarter.

Telecom tie-ups

Nokia is tying up with enterprise service divisions of telecom operators and IT channel partners so that the device can be sold to corporates along with the telecom/IT solution. In fact, “almost half of Nokia’s E-series device sales are through such operator tie-ups and the other half is through retail sales,” said Mr Vasara. In the April-June quarter, Nokia sold about 2 million E-series devices.

In the US and European markets, the E-series device sales are driven more by operators whereas in the Asia-Pacific countries the sales are driven by retailers and distributors. India is among the top ten countries for E-series device sales.

In the UK, Nokia has tied up with BT for an enterprise solution called “corporate fusion” for the sale of E51 devices. According to Mr Rakesh Mahajan, Director of Mobility, BT Global Services, “About 65 per cent customers of BT corporate fusion solution said they have witnessed increased productivity.”

In India, Nokia recently tied up with a telecom operator but declined to identify the operator. “We have tied up with an operator (telecom) in India, which is yet to be announced,” Ms Mary T. McDowell, Executive Vice- President and General Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia, said.

The new device E51 would be available in India soon with a price tag of €350 (Rs 18,500 approximately).

Mr Vasara said India was among the top 10 nations using high-end mobile phones and the number of users in this segment was growing very fast.

BUSINESS MOBILITY

Pointing out that the benefits of business mobility are yet to be tapped, Mr Vasara said that by 2009, there will be 880 million mobile workers worldwide and by 2010, 80 per cent of key business processes would involve exchange of real-time information. “At a time when our personal and professional lives are getting intertwined… business users increasingly need one device that they can count on to work productively and which offers them the level of efficiency that brings more freedom and balance to their personal lives,” he said adding that people are away from their desks 40 per cent of time.

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