Nokia slashes smartphone prices to slow share decline

It is no news that the Finish manufacturer has been trying hard to regain its diminishing market share in the smartphone segment. From smartphones to dual SIM phones, Nokia has been churning out pocket friendly devices in a bid to tilt mobile users in its favor.

What seems to be its yet another attempt in slowing its declining  share in the highend smartphone market, Nokia has announced a price cut across all its smartphones in Europe with 15 percent reduction on Nokia N8, C7 and E6. According to Dow Jones Newswire, the Nokia spokesman James Etheridge said, "price changes are part of our normal, ongoing business and from time to time we may adjust prices for specific products in specific locations. All business as usual." According to a Gartner analyst the price cut were anticipated as "Nokia has indicated that it would be more aggressive on pricing to keep users from defecting."

Earlier last month, Nokia shut down its online shops in France, Spain and the Netherlands including two flagship stores in US. The company faces tough competition from both Apple and Google Android which has eaten into its smartphones market. According to reports Nokia's smartphone share took a beating and fell down to 25.5 percent in the first quarter and are expected to decline further during this year.

During the Nokia Connection 2011 the company revealed its first MeeGo smartphone Nokia N9 which it is planning to release in addition to its  first Windows Phone handsets this year.

Nokia is also planning to release 4 Symbian Belle handsets with a 1 GHz processor according to a leaked document. The document reveals the Nokia Helen, Zeta, Cindy and Fate as the names of the handsets among which Helen will be the flagship device. While these handsets are speculated to be competitively priced, the older ones will see a significant price cut going forwards.

We will be watching to see if this cost benefit trickles down to Indian mobile users as well. Nokia is definitely stepping up its game but will this move be a game changer.