Nokia Enterprise Devices Hit the Sim-Free US Market

Nokia have announced the availability of a number of Eseries business devices in the USA , and they’re specifically pointing out the E61i and E65. What’s interesting is what is not stated in the press release. There’s no mention of the US network operators.

The Finns have had a tough time in the last few years trying to get a beach-head in the US market. Previously the different frequencies and protocols meant that specific handsest had to be made the for US market, but with the growth of GSM in the US, that barrier has fallen. Yet the networks have either not picked up the high-end Nokia devices in significant numbers, or they’ve placed restrictions on them that dull their usefulness to the end user (such as the removal of Wi-Fi that created the E62).

So Nokia’s solution is to simply cut out the middlemen, and sell the handsets, SIM free, to the end users and businesses that want them. It’s a two front approach, with their own strong online presence, and allowing third party stores and chains to be found through the www.nokiaforbusiness.com website (and providing tools for those stores for lead generation as well).

How the networks will react to this will be of interest, but the bigger question is whether the American public will take to paying full price on the handset. The use of the internet, and the blogger outreach program is starting to seed the value of the handsets, and also the fact that the phone is separate from your SIM card.

And it’s not as if another phone is coming to market in the $600 price range that is preparing the market for that sort of cost of a phone. With the Nokia devices at roughly $400, it does appear that the public could be ready for this

Read the Nokia Press Release.

Published by Ewan Spence at 13:58 UTC, June 25th

Categories: Hardware
Platforms: S60 3rd Edition

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