Nokia 3310 to return in new-avatar, available for Rs. 3310
The classic Nokia 3310 will return on May 18 in a new avatar, and will be available for Rs. 3,310. Though the name remains the same, the new-version is faster, has better hardware and more contemporary design. It is the first phone by HMD Global, which is being produced under the Nokia-banner. This will be followed by the launch of Nokia's smartphones in June.
Nokia
Nokia is a Finland-based communications company that was founded in 1865. Dabbling in computer software and telecommunications, the company has grown to amass revenues of over €23.22 billion last year. After launching multiple mobile phone models in the global telecom market, Nokia was crippled by rising competition from rivals such as Apple and Samsung. In 2014, Microsoft acquired its mobile business for $7.17 billion.
The rise and fall of Nokia
After Nokia stormed into the telecom market with its low-end devices, it faced stiff competition from other telecom companies which were introducing touch screens and 3G networks. Soon after, the company evolved to launch handsets with multimedia functions, but could not draw as much market share as Apple or Blackberry. With profits plunging, Nokia resorted to mass layoffs and restructuring to battle the crisis.
Nokia's partnership with Microsoft
After Microsoft took over Nokia, the Finnish company was able to market its mobile phones on the Windows platform. The new face of Nokia saw it return to better revenues and profits, although its market share failed to overtake that of HTC, Samsung or Apple. Nokia also continued to cut costs, and moved many of their factories from Finland to South Asia.
Come 2017, new Nokia phones to enter smartphone market
After battling rising competition and technology changes, Finnish telecom giant Nokia is all set to re-enter the smartphone market next year. The entry will see a new fleet of smartphones being introduced under a 10-year deal with a Finnish start-up called HMD. Nokia will not be manufacturing the phones, but HMD will be responsible for the production and marketing of the new smartphones.
Specifics of the new devices
HMD Global is being led by a former senior executive at Nokia, and the company had acquired Nokia's feature phone business from Microsoft yesterday. Reports stated that HMD will work with phone manufacturer Foxconn for the new devices. The company is looking to launch the smartphones using Google's popular Android operating system, signalling a change from its earlier Windows platform.
New features in the Nokia 3310
The rehashed Nokia 3310 comes with a larger 2.4-inch color display and 2MP camera. It supports dual SIM and 32GB expandable memory. It is smaller, curvier and funkier, and comes in red, yellow, dark blue and grey.
