Nokia goes with Android for phones for developing markets

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Nokia unveiled its first low-end, Android-powered smartphone, targeted at developing markets globally, at the Mobile World Congress in Spain.

Filling a void in the Finnish phone maker's portfolio of devices, the Nokia X carries a full retail, non-contract price of $122, which could make it attractive to consumers in places such as India, Indonesia and Russia.

Nokia also announced two other Android phones, the Nokia X+, priced at $135 and a phone with a larger screen, the XL, at $150, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The main attraction of the Nokia X range to consumers will be their ability to run the thousands of third-party apps developed for Android, Timo Toikkanen, head of Nokia's cellphones unit, said.

"Access to local [Android] apps is hugely important for our customers," he said. "We want to offer choice and access to the world of those apps."

Nokia is well aware consumers have gravitated to Android, as have manufacturers, Toikkanen said. Android was installed on 80 percent of smartphones sold around the world last year, and in some markets, like India, Android's market share is more than 90 percent.

"We need a broad portfolio of products and price points on these markets," he said.

"The affordable smartphone market is growing four times faster than the overall smartphone market, and that's where the Nokia X comes in."