Nokia unloads new handsets for international markets

Nokia Corp. announced seven new phones for markets outside the United States at an event in New Delhi, India, news that coincided with the firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Helsinki, Finland.
The company may have selected New Delhi as its platform due to the country’s preeminence in emerging markets, of which India is the strongest and fastest-growing. Nokia claims more than 60% market share in India, which helped fuel the vendor’s recent earnings.
The product announcements included the “Barracuda,” a thin phone first unveiled in November. Barracuda was the phone’s designation while in development; the company is selling the phone as the 2630. Nokia has been faulted for not pursuing thinness as a primary design feature.
The bevy of phones appeared to be entry- and mid-tier devices aimed at aspiring consumers in emerging markets, with an eye toward thin design and features such as cameras and Bluetooth that are typically associated with more advanced handsets.
At least one model, the Nokia 2505, is a CDMA phone destined for most CDMA markets worldwide, except the United States. The handsets will be available in the second and third quarters and range in price from $47 to $122, excluding tax and operator subsidies.
The company’s shareholders’ meeting and Nokia’s largely positive fortunes are in distinct contrast to the turmoil surrounding its ailing rival, Motorola Inc., playing out in the press a hemisphere away.