Nokia’s encouraging sales figures, recently published, have shown how people from all backgrounds are becoming ever-more keen to access social media and interact with others.
The Finnish firm, which has been around for years and has been responsible for some iconic phone developments in years gone by, had been left behind as the new kids on the block, such as Apple, brought out new technologies which they were unable to match. To put it simply they failed to see the smartphone explosion and were left behind which resulted in it losing its majority market share.
But the news that Nokia’s ‘budget’ Smartphone, the Asha, is outselling the top-of-the-range Lumia by more than two to one, shows how people who previously could not afford to are now able to buy a smartphone. The introduction of more affordable alternatives, such as the Asha, allow more and more people to access a smartphone and therefore access social media at the touch of a button.
Since smartphones first became mainstream in the early 2000s, the number of people accessing social media via mobiles has increased dramatically, and with it the need for affordable phones which can offer access to networks has increased. The number of people who have Smartphone is constantly increasing, and the social media sites know this. Now it seems that the mobile brands do too. Whilst previously some people could not afford the high prices that they have always cost, Nokia seem to have taken advantage of this new market of ‘budget’ phones with it’s new Asha phone which, whilst not as efficient and capable as premium phones, allows an affordable alternative to the masses. Whilst premium phones, such as the iPhone, are out of the price range of many, budget alternatives are accessible for almost everyone.
Whilst other phone companies, such as Apple and ZTE, are also rumoured to be planning the introduction of more basic Smartphone, Nokia has got in early and capitalised, a necessity after the recent successes of other big mobile brands which has left it lagging behind. The company has helped bring social media on mobiles to those who previously may not have been able to afford it and that is great news for us working in the communications industry as it means we have more opportunities to engage with these new people. We only have to take a quick look at our client’s Google analytics to see how mobile devices are being used to view our websites and blogs. The team created a report last week for one of our clients and we noticed that mobile devices had gone from being just 10% of visitors last year to 27% of visitors today. It’s pretty clear tablets and mobile devices are the future of the internet.
Do you think cheap smartphones are a good idea?
