Nokia 1661 – Phone for Emerging Markets

It took the crown from all the Flagships , N-Series , X Series , C Series , E Series and all other phones Nokia has to offer .

It got no Camera , neither it can use any of the OVI Services and even it’s not Internet accessible let alone letting people access their OVI Mail on it .

There is no App Store present for it , neither further software can be added .

Still this phone was honored to be part of Olli Pekka -  CEO Nokia’s Keynote Speech at  CES Las Vegas earlier this month .

This is  Nokia 1661 -  Phone for the Emerging Markets

Despite it got nothing which it’s ‘smart’ siblings has why this phone with mediocre features sprinted ahead and became part of the keynote ?

The Nokia 1661 without smart features still has features  to offer which may not be useful for a few elite of this world but for the masses  it’s like a Swiss Army Knife of Phones  .

Imagine yourself in an economy where lights out which we call Load Shedding is rampant and in Summer people have to spend 10 –16 hours without electricity .

When the night falls Nokia 1661 and similar phones with torches lights the way , it’s the FM Radio in these phones which provides the much needed entertainment  and the longer battery life means more time between charges .

Now imagine you have an iPhone or  a Nokia N900  in this economy , after 5 hours of use your phone will be almost crippled due to lack of battery and in another hour or so it will be as good as a paper weight until charged  what’s better in this resource less economy the Euro 200 plus power hungry phone or Euro 20 power sipping phone which takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

It’s not only the

• Flashlight 
• FM Radio 
• Sturdy body ( many of these phone owners most precious and expensive possession is their phone )
• 64 K Color TFT Screen
• Dust Resistant keyboard and
• Shock Resistant body  ( tap the phone and feel the springy kickback ) 
• Smaller things like the hook to easily tie the phone as a necklace or tie it to the wall to avoid it being whisked away not to mention
• Long lasting battery

It’s also the software which matters for it’s usage among emerging economies.

Again go back to the economy where one phone is being used by the whole family , everyone has their separate SIM , ( Fortunately in developing economies like Pakistan SIM Cards are available for few cents or free ) multiple phone books play a very important role , Father got his business contacts , mom her own and kids their own with up to Five phone books are supported .

Beside Phone book which can hold up to a total of 500 numbers , it also has the following useful applications

• Talking Clock -  useful in the dead of the night and for morning alarm
• Calculator
• Converter which converts Temperature , Length , Distance and even Currency ( prior entry of exchange rate required)
• Spreadsheet – one of the most useful software which can keep track of Daily Expense and Monthly Expense account with categories including Food , Transport ,Entertainment , Restaurant and Other  . The daily expense can be synced with monthly expense to get the total.
• Calendar -  To keep track of reminders
• Stopwatch -  to keep track of time
• Composer -  to make your own tunes and bring out the creative musician in you
• The Language can also be customized ,  my phone has Urdu , English , Arabic and Pushto
• To cut on costs , the predetermined time for the call can be set which will warn with a beep once the limit is near , another useful feature especially in Pakistan where there are cost cutting deals based in minutes used , two free after one etc
• In Call Timers that beep once a minute is about to be reached
• Call Screening for messages and calls

The provided accessories are also practical and include

• Nokia Battery BL-4C 860 MAH
• Nokia Compact Charger AC-3
• Nokia Stereo Headset WH-101 to be used as FM Radio Antenna and Hands Free

So what you think for just a fraction of cost of a decent Dinner in Paris , people in emerging countries can own a ‘Feature’ laden phone mean for them.

This is where Olli Pekka sees the next billion Nokia customers to rise from who will start low but eventually will upgrade to higher models meanwhile giving Nokia a strong , loyal consumer base for the future .

No related posts.

Tagged as: Emerging Markets, Nokia