Microsoft made a very clever move with the Nokia X and its XL as well as X+ siblings which are slated for the affordable smartphone segment. Redmond really needed a foot in the devices business since PC sales are slowing down and it can make only so many hardware partners.
Mobile was obviously its next move. But Windows Phone unfortunately didn’t take off as well as the company probably hoped it would and it was left standing in roughly the same position until Nokia happened. So here we had Microsoft desperate to get into the mobile devices business and a Finnish OEM which was too stubborn to take up Android and hence was floundering.
Here’s why the Nokia X will succeed:
Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia was well timed since the latter had one important thing other smaller manufacturers couldn’t boast of. It had brand value and still does. The venerable name was mostly what had kept the company going for so long when others would have drowned. But some still doubted whether Microsoft would let the rumored Nokia X Android phone live.
And it has. The thing is, the Nokia labeling is not just one trusted by millions, it also plays the part of a tiny wedge between Android and Microsoft. If Windows Phone is to survive, appearances have to be kept up in public. Redmond folks cannot be seen going telling people that Google’s mobile OS is better than Windows Phone, not when it charges hardware partners licensing fees for the software. Plus, it needs a backup plan if its OS fails.
The Nokia X is affordable at Rs 8,599 and it has decent features to boot. There’s a 4-inch display, dual core processor, 1GB RAM and dual SIM slots onboard. It also pricks Google where it hurts by running a forked version of Android which will have users spending money in the Nokia Store (or third party ones) and not Play Store. Unless of course, you wouldn’t mind tinkering with a workaround to this.
Nokai X specs at a glance:
– 4-inch 800 x 480p touchscreen
– Nokia X software platform 1.0
– 1GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip
– 512MB of RAM, 4GB onboard storage
– Memory expandable up to 32GB
– Dual SIM card slots
– 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
– 1500mAh battery
– 13.3 hours 2G or 10.5 hours 3G talk time
With the reasonable cost and brand value to back it, the Nokia X is sure to be a success in the market.
