Nokia eyes CDMA replacement market
By siliconindia   |   Sunday, 18 November 2007, 20:30 IST
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Kolkata: As Finnish giant Nokia, unable to provide low-priced CDMA handsets to operators will instead focus on the replacement market. According to D Shivakumar, Vice-President & Managing Director (mobile phones) of Nokia India Private, the CDMA industry was price-led. "Nokia will not be able to provide CDMA handsets priced around $20 each," said Shivakumar. Currently, Nokia account 10 percent in the replacement market. The company, which started operations in India 12 years back, has the largest market share among GSM handset manufactuers who offer their products to Indian consumers. Shivakumar also said that as innovation was the key to meeting customer satisfaction, the company plans to launch 26 to 30 models every six months across various price points. The company would ramp up manufacturing capacity at its Chennai plant to meet the growing demand. "The plant was manufacturing 60 million units from Chennai, out of which 75 percent was supplied to the domestic market," said Shivakumar. Nokia India was also exporting handsets to 59 countries from the Chennai plant. The company had invested $160 million for the Chennai plant which employs 5000 people. Shivakumar said that the company would also expand the retail presence from the present level of 700 odd exclusive outlets spread across the country.

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