Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) has been working to establish itself in the smartphone space when it made the jump to running the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone operating system exclusively last year, then launching its flagship Lumia line of handsets last fall in order to put Windows on the smartphone radar and to rally Nokia back into relevance in the handset market like it was in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) is starting to branch out its Lumia line, launching a couple of mid-range handsets last week, and this week it is unveiling a low-budget Lumia handset called the 510, which Nokia calls the cheapest Windows Phone device it has ever produced. The device is being displayed on store shelves in the U.K. to begin with, and it is being quoted with a retail price of 85 pounds (or about $145), but there is one twist – the phone will run Windows 7.x versions and cannot be upgraded to WP8. In one U.K. store, the model runs Windows 7.8, which does include some Windows 8 features. The phone reportedly will be a pay-as-you-go phone with no contracts of phone-plan commitments required.
What do you think? Will this low-budget phone help Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) in its pursuit for better market share? Let us know your thoughts about Nokia and its Lumia handset line in the comments section below.
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