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Nokia has unwrapped a couple of budget phones this morning, pitching the 110 and 112 as internet devices despite their - by modern standards - tiny 1.8in, 128 x 160 screens. The two dual-band handsets can take two Sims, mind, handy for mixing business and pleasure. Nokia 110   Nokia 112 New Nokias: 110 (left) and 112 …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Who will buy them?

    People who want internet access and a camera will surely go for a budget android job - or basically anything with a slightly bigger screen. People who want a basic budget phone tend to just want a basic budget phone, and would be better off without these fancy extras.

    So who's this phone actually targeted at? I suspect they're filling a gap in the market - a gap where nobody actually lives. Maybe I'm wrong though.

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    1. Thecowking
      Reply Icon

      Re: Who will buy them?

      I was actually looking at one of them, packed to the gunwales with music, as a travel phone with a cheap PAYG SIM in.

      My travel phone (nokia E65) is getting somewhat long in the tooth, and I expect the battery life to be better on a new phone with a lower spec.

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    2. ukgnome
      Reply Icon

      Re: Who will buy them?

      My mother-in-law for one

      She can't text with her current phone, so an any phone with auto correct is a no-no.

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    3. Kristian Walsh Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      "a gap where nobody actually lives."

      Or how about a gap where over three quarters of the Earth's population lives?

      Take away the operators' subsidies, and the cheapest "Budget Android Job" is four times the price of either of these handsets, and has poor talk time, questionable build quality, and very likely no Dual-SIM support. And four times that €35 price is a lot of money in a country where you can get a decent meal for €2.00.

      This is primarily a voice phone, but with added internet connectivity and instant messaging support. No 3G because there's limited 3G infrastructure in the places these will be bought.

      There is a niche for these in markets like Western Europe too: there's a small but significant minority of customers who want a purely voice-call phone, or just something they can rely on to still be working even after a week of use. Also, there are people, even in "rich" nations, who cannot afford three-figure sums for a phone. They mightn't hang around in your local Starbucks (and this is one of the Starbucks USPs, but not one they explicitly mention), but they're out there.

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "a gap where nobody actually lives."

        Yes, I get all that - but the people who'd fall into this end of the market are (in my experience at least) better served by the even lower end phones. The ones with just the basics - phone, text, black and white screen. Those phones work anywhere, are a fair bit cheaper, and just last forever. I keep buying them for relatives :)

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        1. Anthony Shortland
          Reply Icon

          Re: "a gap where nobody actually lives."

          I'd imagine the market is basically for someone who wants a phone to travel with, to take PAYG sims for whichever country they are going to, for a price thats no disaster if the phone is lost, but is of good enough quality to last a few years.

          Yes there are other phones that fit that, but those tend to be by samsung/LG etc who tend to have some strange ideas when it comes to usability of their budget phone OS's. Something that definitely isnt a problem with nokia phones.

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        2. Kristian Walsh Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: "a gap where nobody actually lives."

          You're still coming at this from a European perspective: assuming that people are buying what you see as a "cheap" phone because they don't want access to the web, Facebook or IM service. That's not where these will sell. (Although watch out for them in Tesco, who do a nice trade in cheap unlocked handsets). Phones like these two are offering access to the net for people who's budget did not stretch to that before.

          An example of where this is aimed: India. This new Nokia 112 costs, before tax and subsidy, the equivalent of five or six meals for two in a casual-dining restaurant. In UK terms, that puts it at the equivalent of £200. Do the same sums with the price of an iPhone or high-end Android (around €450 before tax and subsidy), and see where it lies in the market.

          The press launch for these two phones was in Pakistan -- not London, Berlin, San Francisco or Helsinki. That should give you an idea of the markets they're aiming for.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Who will buy them?

    People that don't want to carry a work phone and a personal phone is one of the targets I suppose

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  3. Hayden Clark Silver badge
    Unhappy

    No flip-phones!

    Nobody makes a nice flip phone any more! The last Nokia one was years ago.

    Keylocks just don't work in handbags.

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    1. The Original Ash
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      Re: No flip-phones!

      Motorola should never have stopped making the V3. Upgrade the hardware as tech improves, keep the form factor, and they'd rake it in.

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  4. Neil 7
    Meh

    Great, I'm sure they'll sell quite a few in India etc.

    Trouble is, they're probably only making a few quid on each sale, profit that will be wiped out by the losses incurred from supporting the smartphone platform that nobody wants to buy (I mean WP of course and not Symbian/MeeGo as these are the platforms Nokia doesn't want to sell but people would rather buy).

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    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Great, I'm sure they'll sell quite a few in India etc.

      They still make more on these phones, at this price, than anyone except HTC and Samsung are making from Android.

      "platforms Nokia doesn't want to sell but people would rather buy"

      Statistically speaking, nobody wants to buy Symbian phones. I say that as an owner of an N8, who is actively considering an 808 PureView as my next phone, but the fact remains that "Symbian" is now synonymous with "Shit" in the mind of anyone who reads a lot of tech blogs, and that's a good description of the sales-guys in Craphone Warehouse or Phones4U or in the operator stores, or the "pet nerd" people ask about these things. This reputation might not be true anymore, but reputations, both good and bad, hang around longer than the truth behind them.

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  5. I think so I am?
    Go

    Holiday Phone

    This has holiday/beach phone written all over it!! No more taking my shinny shinny to the beach!

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  6. Annihilator
    Thumb Down

    Business?

    I'm sure they'd appeal to some people, and I do like twin-sim devices, but I wouldn't be thrilled with a business phone that comes in a garish day-glo colour.

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  7. h3

    2 sim phones are always good. (Presuming they can be used simultaneously).

    I would like an Android that was of reasonable spec and dual sim at the same time.

    (Only the Chinese seem to remotely get this but the ones I have seen are utter junk).

    At the min I use a 6230i for calls / texts (Probably lasts a week).

    Xperia Play for internet. (Battery life is so bad though cannot really use it that well.)

    I would buy a midrange Samsung in a heartbeat if it had the 2 sim feature and a half decent battery. (Do they not sell in China ?)

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    1. Dave Lawton
      Reply Icon

      @ h3

      Samsung GT-B5722 (I have one of these -great), fits your requirements, but not Android, thinks it's Bada.

      Later model Samsung GT-B7722.

      HTH

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  8. dogged

    Yes, but Tony...

    tell us why you've dumped your smartphone.

    Please?

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh dear another FAIL

    Look at the screens of the phones. Nobody wants a static grid of icons leading into siloed applications any more. People want interactive live tiles that only Windows Phone can offer.

    Join the revolution - join Windows Phone

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    1. Snapper
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: Oh dear another FAIL

      That was subtle.

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  10. get off

    Dual SIM HTC HD2?

    There's a dual sim version of the ye olde faithful general that is the HD2, knocking about.

    Bang android on it and there's your budget Smartphone....

    Not sure it's 'official' but it (the phone) seems to be reasonably well supported

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  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Goodnight Nokia

    Shares down 5.25% today in Nokia despite them launching these two new phones.

    How long can this continue before their value is wiped out completely? Plenty of phones on the market but investors clearly aren't keen

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