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Nokia launches camcorder phone
Nokia hopes to stimulate consumer demand with new camcorder phone
HELSINKI, Finland (CNN) -- Nokia launched the first camcorder mobile phone in the hope it would "trigger" a sales boom in the sluggish wireless market.
The new 3650 mobile phone -- which features a large colour display, ring tone composer and numerous games -- has a built-in camcorder and technology to view and send 15 seconds of images to other mobile phones. Those images can be emailed to friends and users can download real-time video content.
Mobile phone companies are banking on handsets, which offer multimedia messaging and colour screens, to revive a stagnant market. Consumers have been reluctant to replace existing phones with little in the way of new technology and the spectacularly poor performance of Web-enabled phones.
"This is positive news for the industry," Tapio Hedman, a spokesman for Nokia Mobile Phones, told CNN. "These phones with colour displays will trigger demand. This is evidence that the 3G revolution is taking place" without the launch of high-speed networks.
Many mobile phone operators do not expect to launch third-generation mobile phone services until sometime in 2003. Mobile operators are delaying the rollout as they cut their debt piles to counter sluggish global economic growth.
Global mobile phone sales fell for the first time last year and there is real concern the industry may not be able to sell 400 million units this year, as is the consensus, unless consumers start buying the newfangled phones.
While the 3650 will not be available until the start of 2003, Nokia also launched a new budget colour screen phone, which it hopes will attract the teen market. They are expected to retail at about 200-300 euros without subsidies.
The budget segment accounts for 70 percent of global handset sales.
Nokia's stock rose 4.7 percent to 13.83 euros in midday Helsinki trading on Friday.
"This is good news. Nokia will again lead the pack in the low-end market when everyone else is just starting to introduce low-end colour screen phones,'' Jussi Uskola, analyst at Nordea Securities, told Reuters.
"It would help boost Q4 earnings if the phones are reasonably priced,'' he said.
Nokia is expected to stick to its forecast of third-quarter profits when it updates investors on Tuesday, analysts said. The company has said it expects earnings per share of between 15 cents and 17 cents in the July-September quarter.
Analysts expect the six colour-screen models, one with a camera, that Nokia has launched this year to have some impact on sales. Sony Ericsson's tiny T68i has already been a soar away success.
Nokia's earlier phones have been pricey but the new 3510i range should trigger industry-wide growth at the budget end of the market.
The launch of new phones is crucial to maintain Nokia's dominant position. It has a markets share of about 36 percent, more than double that of its nearest rival Motorola of the United States.
Nokia's 3650 camcorder-enabled phones are expected to retail at about 450-500 euros, excluding subsidies. The phone will work on five continents using the GSM network.
Both models -- 3650 and 3510i --feature multimedia messaging (MMS) technology, which is currently being rolled out in Europe to enable consumers to send and receive pictures, sound clips and play games. They also include high-speed GPRS technology.
Last edited by pcservicetech at Today at 8:05 am
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