Nokia N8 smartphone launched at Rs 26,000-plus

Mobile handset leader Nokia, which has been steadily losing out to rivals in general, on Tuesday launched the much-anticipated smartphone N8 with Ovi services, in its attempt to claw-back market share and remain relevant to fast-changing consumers.

The smartphone, priced at Rs 26,259 apiece, comes with Ovi services that enable a user to create content, connect to his/her favourite social networks and enjoy on-demand online television programmes.

"The consumer is in the centre of all that we do at Nokia. We are constantly innovating to enhance user experience and address user feedback," said Nokia India Vice-president and Managing Director D Shivakumar said at the launch here.

While the company refused to speak about market share or sales numbers at the launch, saying it is in silent mode, according to the latest IDC report, Nokia's market share in Mumbai plunged to a poor 36.3 per cent by June-end, from 54 per cent at the end of 2009 and over 70 per cent in 2008.

The IDC report shows domestic companies like Micromax, Spice, Karbon and Lava, which import handsets from China, shot up to 33 per cent during the past six months. In 2008, the domestic players had a paltry 0.9 per cent market share.

Nokia, till two years ago was the undisputed leader in the Rs 50,000-crore domestic mobile-handset market, with over 70 per cent market share. But, of late, has been fighting fierce competition from many corners.

While the feature-rich and cheaper phones with dual-and even three-SIM facility from domestic players have been cutting into its kitty in the mass market, the high-end players like Samsung, HTC and LG have been giving it a tough time in other segments.

Globally, the Finnish company - which transformed itself from a conglomerate that produced rubber boots to toilet paper to become the leader of the mobile handset market in 1998 - has been steadily losing the smartphone battle to Apple's iPhone and BlackBerry from the Canadian RIM.

The IDC data showed that nearly 39 per cent of handsets sold in the country during January-June this year were dual-SIM phones, a segment for which Nokia did not have a single model, until recently. Nokia introduced its first dual-SIM handset,C2, only this August.

The domestic market sold 21.27 lakh smartphones last year, and is expected to more than double to 47.22 lakh units this year.

Of this, Symbian 3 smartphones - Symbian 3 is the latest edition to smartphone softwares - accounted for 72 per cent last year, said Shivakumar.