Nokia regains market share lead in Russia in Q3 helped by cheap Lumias
September 15, 2013 | By Surur
wmpoweruser.com
According to preliminary data by Euroset, Russia’s leading electronics retailer, Nokia has regained the first place in the Russian phone market in Q3 2013, helped by the sale of cheap Lumia handsets.
Nokia gained in the budget segment – due to prices lower than competitors, said vice-president of Commerce for Euroset Victor Lukanin , especially in the cheapest segment where devices cost up to 2,000 rubbles ($60).
Nokia held 29% of the market, ahead of Samsung’s 27%. In terms of revenue Nokia had 15% of the market, vs 32%, indicating the greater proportion of feature phones in Nokia’s portfolio.
Carrier MTS agreed with Euroset’s numbers, with Nokia having 29% of the market, vs 27% for Samsung.
“I agree Nokia is really the first place,” said MTS spokesman Dmitry Solodovnikov . “It’s because of the aggressive sales of low-end models Nokia.”
Maria Zaikina, from analyst company Coherent, however notes it is not just due to feature phones. She said for the past six months, the popularity of Windows Phone has grown significantly due to it Nokia. She notes the average price of Nokia smartphones dropped 15.9% YoY, while prices in the market increased by 14%.
Denis Kyckob from TelecomDaily said Nokia’s improved performance was aided by focussing only on Asha and Windows Phones, and he notes similarly that last year the cheapest Lumias started at 18,000 Rubbles, while it now started at 8,000 Rubbles. He notes even Apple was now adopting some of Lumia features, such as the colourful phones.
Ultimately the success of Windows Phone will depend on Nokia transitioning their feature phone buyers to their Windows Phone smartphones, something they are having some success with, but an effort which will need to be stepped up going into the future.
Source Vedomosti.ru, via WPC |
