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Nokia hopes iPhone will boost interest in pricier phones

Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia, hopes that Apple Inc.'s upcoming iPhone will help to boost consumer interest in more expensive models with advanced features. Smartphones can be multimedia gadgets, can surf the web, take excellent photos and play games but since many cost more than $400 before subsidies by mobile carriers, the average consumer may not look twice.

"The (U.S.) consumer ... hasn't had a lot of choice to go out and purchase these kind of higher-end, feature-rich multimedia devices. If that can help that market grow, I think that gives us an opportunity," Nokia Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rick Simonson said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.



Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs has set a goal of selling 1 million iPhones in Calendar 2008. "Don't get me wrong, they will bring some things to the table that we have to be responsive to, but we have been investing in this area or some time," Simonson said. "We are leading in multimedia convergence."

Simonson pointed out Nokia's N73 and N95 best-selling handsets as examples of multimedia feature-rich handssets already on the market from the company. "It (the N95) is already out there, doing many of the things that people are talking about the iPhone doing. The iPhone is interesting. It's very much a validation of what we've been doing, in terms of saying there is a multimedia device out there that people will pay for," he said.

A 4GB iPhone costs $499 and an 8GB costs $599. Apple has said it could sell as many as 10 million units.

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 15 May 2007 18:48

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• 5 comments

• borhan9

  When i bought my phone i thought about how many songs i can put on it and other multimedia files etc... then i thought its not really worth using it in that form. Then for my bday my mum and sister got me an ipod and that is my music player and i only hold a few songs on my phone now.
  
  If you want a phone for a phone use get a phone if you want a multimedia player get a multimedia player.

  15.5.2007 23:37 #1

• jchien

  Quote:When i bought my phone i thought about how many songs i can put on it and other multimedia files etc... then i thought its not really worth using it in that form. Then for my bday my mum and sister got me an ipod and that is my music player and i only hold a few songs on my phone now.
  
  If you want a phone for a phone use get a phone if you want a multimedia player get a multimedia player.Good call. I have a very old nokia that I will use till my grave because it works, but doesn't have any fancy gadgets. Text Messaging is as advanced as my phone is, but I have an 80gb iPod, so in all reality, I never need a fancy phone (except internet access is nice.)
  

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  16.5.2007 03:59 #2

• jetyi83

  agreed, but once phones start coming out that do everything, you wont have any use for a separate mp3 player.
  
  once i get a phone thats small and clear and can hold a million songs and pictures and videos, get money out of the atm, unlock my car, get internet, and wirelessly display video and music onto my tv and speakers. i wont need to have anything else in my pocket.
  
  sounds advanced but ive been waiting for a phone like this for like 5 years now.. maybe in another 5 years.

  16.5.2007 06:58 #3

• borhan9

  Originally posted by jetyi83:agreed, but once phones start coming out that do everything, you wont have any use for a separate mp3 player.
  
  once i get a phone thats small and clear and can hold a million songs and pictures and videos, get money out of the atm, unlock my car, get internet, and wirelessly display video and music onto my tv and speakers. i wont need to have anything else in my pocket.
  
  sounds advanced but I've been waiting for a phone like this for like 5 years now.. maybe in another 5 years.Mate i know what u mean but this just complicates things. Also don't forget they have all the new flashy things you can do with the phone. But your battery life will die quick when you are going to do more than a phone call and a sms message. This is why again i would get two separate things.

  16.5.2007 14:32 #4

• Unfocused

  I have the Cingular 8125, and it goes with me everywhere. I keep my eBooks on the phone, copy my DVDs to it, listen to mp3s, and have it hooked into my GPS for the car.
  
  Once you upgrade to one of the higher end phones, you really start to realize just how useful they are. I have had no issues with battery life as of yet, but then again, it does have a 1200mAh battery in it. The average phone packs anywhere from 350 to 700Mah.

  19.5.2007 07:10 #5