Nokia starts Vietnam plant to reach Next Billion

Hanoi (Vietnam), Mar 4: Aiming to reach the 'Next Billion,' worlds largest manufacture of mobile phones, Nokia has announced hat it"s building a new manufacturing site near Hanoi in northern Vietnam. The new factory will be Nokia's eleventh site across the world.

With the new factory in Vietnam, Nokia aims to increase the production capacity to reach the Next Billion, which Nokia defined as the 3.2 billion people who have never owned a mobile phone.. The new factory will cost $276 million with further sizeable investments later.

Nokia"s 'Next Billion' strategy is about putting mobile devices into the hands of 3.2 billion people who live in the so-called BRIICA markets (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and Africa) and their neighbours. Nokia wants to be a major player in connecting the next billion people to the Internet via the phone.

"Only about 30 percent of the world"s population is currently online, and we believe we can play a major role in connecting the next billion not just to their first phone but to their first internet and application experience," said Esko Aho, Nokia"s EVP for Corporate Relations and Responsibility.

Nokia said that the reason selecting Vietnam is its geographical proximity to the markets in which many of the next wave of mobile users live as well as component suppliers. The Finnish phone maker also aims the stable and fast-growing infrastructure and a skilled, available workforce in Vietnam.

OneIndia News