Microsoft has launched a £15 mobile phone, with no access to web services as the firm aims to kill off its low cost smartphone range to focus on its high end Windows Phone range. The Nokia 130 is priced at 19 euros ($25; £15) and will be sold with other budget handsets running the Series […]
Microsoft has launched a £15 mobile phone, with no access to web services as the firm aims to kill off its low cost smartphone range to focus on its high end Windows Phone range.
The Nokia 130 is priced at 19 euros ($25; £15) and will be sold with other budget handsets running the Series 30+ operating system, which Microsoft acquired as part of its takeover of Nokia’s handset division in April.
The firm had now halted further Asha and Android-powered Nokia X handsets – platforms that have the added ability of allowing users to install apps from Microsoft and third-party developers.
The phased-out ranges had previously been marketed as stepping stones to Nokia’s more expensive and more powerful Lumia-branded Windows Phone handsets.
Microsoft’s marketing materials for the new handset note that a recent study indicated more than 300 million sub-$35 (£21) contract-free handsets were sold a year.
Samsung, India’s Micromax and the Chinese firm TCL offer rival “ultra-affordable” phones of their own.
The Nokia 130’s lack of data connectivity means that it will not be able to take part in Microsoft’s wider “cloud first” strategy.
However, the 1.8in (4.6cm)-screened phone will be one of the cheapest handheld devices capable of playing back video thanks to its ability to read files saved to a Micro SD card.
The device will be sold in China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam, but there are no plans to release it in the UK.
