Nokia was always known for its humanitarian strategies over the world. This time the company decided to make a €200 million investment and build a new handset assembly factory, near Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Once the factory starts to work in 2012, Nokia will continue to make further investments. This new factory will be the next facility among the manufacturing network which is stretching from Latin America (Brazil and Mexico) to Europe (Finland, Hungary, Romania, the UK) and Asia (China, India, Korea).
Nokia is one from those companies that worry about people over the world that do not own mobile phones or have access to the internet. There are many people who can’t spend more than $100 on a device, so this segment is ignored by manufacturers and Nokia decided to help those 3.2 billion people who still do not have a phone or 3.7 billion have cell phones but less than half do not access the internet.
As Esko Aho, Executive Vice President at Nokia said:
“Only about 30% of the world’s population is currently online, and we believe we can play a major role in connecting the next billion not just to their first phone but to their first internet and application experience.”
It is beneficial for both sides of the agreement, as if Nokia seizes a new market and the country can reduce the unemployment rate. According to Juha Putkiranta, Senior Vice President of Nokia:
“I am extremely excited about this opportunity and about the support and commitment that Vietnam has offered to Nokia. This new manufacturing site will play a key role in our effort to connect the next billion to the web.”
This next billion probably will help the Finnish company to improve the situation, but I guess it’ll be criticized for losing market share in smartphone market for a long time.
