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Cheaper smartphones based on Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS will arrive quickly according to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.
The Nokia chief moved on Friday to reassure the market that the firm has plans to follow the general trend towards cheaper smartphones, despite the recent ‘unprecidented’ partnership with Microsoft.
Still the world’s largest phone maker, the bulk of Nokia’s business is in non-smartphone handsets or so-called ‘feature phones’ while so far Windows Phone 7 has only been appeared on top-shelf devices.
"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Elop told Finnish journalists according to a Reuters report.
The ex-Microsoft boss said that the ability to ship phones at a "very low price point" was one of the key factors in the negotiations surrounding the firm’s adoption of Microsoft’s smartphone OS.
The current crop of Windows Phone devices are all based on virtually identical hardware, strictly mandated by Microsoft as the firm targetted one specific Qualcomm chipset in order to deliver a 3D accelerated interface.
Microsoft is reportedly set to open up the platform to the wider ecosystem of competing smartphone hardware manufacturers, clearing the way for lower-end devices.
The trend towards ever cheaper smartphones, particularly the influx of Android devices, has put Nokia increasingly under pressure leading to Elop describing the firm’s position as a ‘burning platform’.
