Nokia eyes 100 mln subscribers with low cost phones

New Delhi, May 3 (UNI) Leading handsets maker Nokia today said it targets to have 100 million subscribers in India by next year, most of them coming from lower-income segments.

''We had sales worth two billion dollar plus last year and aim for a double digit growth this year. We are looking at increasing our penetration in smaller towns since it is already high in higher income segments,'' Mr D Shivakumar, VP and Managing Director (Mobile Phones) Nokia told newspersons.

Building upon its presence in the entry-level segment in the country, Nokia also launched seven models of mobile phones priced as low as 35 Euros (48 dollars).

This comes a day after Reliance Communication launched its Classic range of low-cost handsets at Rs 777 (19 dollars) onwards.

The Finnish firm, which holds a major 70 per cent share in the GSM platform and a decent 20 per cent market in the CDMA, said it will double its outlets to two lakh from the existing one lakh in 2007.

MORE UNI