Nokia unveils 7 'entry' phones

NEW DELHI: To tap the 800 million potential users across the world, world's largest handset maker Nokia toady unveiled seven entry-level mobile handsets. The phones aimed at first time users will be priced in the range of Rs 2240-4800, excluding taxes and subsidies.

The company said it is expecting its sales to cross four billion mark by 2010 with half of it coming from the Asia Pacific region, including India.

"We shipped one million mobile handsets globally last year and we expect this number to touch four billion by 2010," Nokia senior vice president, entry business unit, mobile phones, Soren Petersen told reporters.

Half of this growth would come from emerging markets, including India and China, and to grab this opportunity, the company is focusing on reducing the cost of handsets, he said.

The phones would hit the market in second and third quarter of 2007. "India is among the top three markets for Nokia and the company's brand is also among the top 10 most recalled brand in the country," Petersen added.

The Finnish phone maker enjoys a strong position in the emerging markets, but in developed markets Motorola and Samsung have attacked it with popular thin phones.