It looks like Nokia is going to use some of their flexibility to grab some share in the UK. I believe the phrase "turn up the heat" was used in the CC to describe their potential strategy....
mobiletoday.co.uk
Nokia starts 'broadest' price drop
9:41AM Thu 25 January 2007
Nokia has made its broadest price drop ever, according to distribution sources. Prices have been cut on 43 handsets, which accounts for almost the entire UK range.
Most handsets have been reduced by around 10%. The popular 6021 is down from £54 to £50, the 6233 has had £15 slashed from its original price of £139 and the N73 has been cut from £229 to £211. The price drops came into effect on Monday.
'In the eight years I have been working with Nokia, I have never known them to drop the price on much more than ten handsets at a time,' said one source at a major handset distributor.
Nokia says the price cuts are to 'clear a space' for newer models, such as the N95 due in March. 'We tend to use this time to adjust the pricing model, firstly, because it helps the channel, and secondly, because it starts to clear a space in the range for the newer models,' said a spokesman.
The move has left some handset distributors worried. The new UK prices could undercut them, leaving them with large volumes of unofficially sourced stock.
One source said: 'No-one is protected on price which is causing massive problems in distribution.' The spokesman denied that the price cuts were a reaction to a drop in market share. 'If you react to every market change by adjusting your price you'd be in a strange position,' he said. |
