At Mobile World Congress 2014, Nokia announced its much rumored Nokia X lineup. What was believed to be one Android device turned out to be a trio of Android phones in various sizes. The Nokia X, X+ and XL offer highly forked versions of Google’s mobile operating system in the company’s usual colorful designs. They lean on Microsoft services, as opposed to Google’s, and are served by Nokia’s own app store. The relatively low prices make them a good option, but unfortunately they won’t be officially released for sale in the U.S.
This comes directly from the vice president of mobile phone marketing, Jussi Nevanlinna, who has confirmed that the Nokia X series won’t be released in the U.S. Even Japan, South Korea and Canada won’t get these new phones. All three phones fall under $150, that too without carrier subsidies, which is why its believed that they will do very well particularly in emerging markets.
So for people who want to buy Nokia X phones in these markets, there’s no official channel. Its possible that third party retailers might import the devices and sell them, but that would be at a slightly inflated price, and availability issues may also exist. Do you think it makes sense for Nokia not to bring the phones to these markets, particularly the U.S.?