Simon Lee-Smith, Telefonica’s European General Manager for Devices, considers devices offered by Nokia way “too expensive.” So even the fact we’re stating they’re included in high-end lineups coming with advanced features, doesn’t change the situation.
The expert thinks “if Nokia wants to sell in volume, they need to bring out devices which are cost-competitive.” At the moment some of these devices are pretty expensive, including the 12 megapixel camera Nokia N8 and the MeeGo Harmattan Nokia N9. For the upcoming device, the Nokia 800 Lumia, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop announced a price of 420 EUR (around $584), without taxes and subsidy.
The expert from Telefonica gives the following advice: “They need to be able to subsidize their high end smartphones, because they’re too expensive. All device manufacturers seem to think that a €400-plus device is the norm. Well, it isn’t. Customers and operators won’t pay that cost for a device, which doesn’t differentiate sufficiently.”
The expert’s assessment, however, doesn’t touch upon the prices best suitable for devices of this range. I guess he expects to see a handset coming at a price varying between $300-$350 at the most.
