Nokia on Thursday unveiled a $ 99 (about Rs5,350) touch screen mobile with internet capability on its popular Asha series as it looks to regain lost ground after having fallen behind in the global smartphone race.
The Asha 501, which will be built in India, will roll out to 90 countries by June and will cost $ 99 excluding taxes. The phone will use a new software that allows users to multitask between built in applications for popular social media sites.
Nokia, which has lost market share to iPhone and Samsung, is betting on India, its biggest market after China, to revive sales of cheaper mobile phones.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop unveiled new software, called the Asha platform, to run its Asha devises. The new software is revamp of the old version and has been bundled with a pact that lets customers use Facebook for free on their handsets.
Its deal with Facebook and mobile operator Bharti Airtel allows Asha 501 users in India and Africa to access their social networking account without paying any data charges.
"India is very important. It is the bellwether market that is very leading indicator of some of the trend. It is very symbolic that we are not launching this from certain other countries, from Finland,
london or the US. We are launching it here in India because so much of our work is focussed on Indian consumers," Elop told reporters here.
The company has decided to manufacture Nokia Asha 501 at its Chennai factory to meet local needs as well as exporting to other countries, Nokia India Managing Director and Vice President P Balaji said.
Asha 501 is dual SIM phone which promises 17 hours of talk time on single SIM use and 48 days of standby time.