Nokia realizes that entry level is where its at in the Philippines

William Hamilton-Whyte, the new country manager of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Philippines, said the company would reach out to the provinces as growth in the urban areas has started to slow down.

The executive said that although Nokia has sold a record number of phone units this year, the revenues are not as big as before since most of these units were entry-level phones.

According to Hamilton-Whyte, this trend seems to suggest that the next battleground would be the rural areas where a vast majority of the population don’t own a phone yet.

"We need to go outside of Metro Manila in order to expand our foothold. But it does not mean that will be neglecting the cities. We will, in fact, ensure our leadership first through good distribution before we go to the provinces."

He said Nokia will continue to work with local operators to bring down the cost of its phones and become affordable to countryside folks.

Source: The Manila Bulletin Online

First of all, congrats to Will at his new position, and now good luck to Nokia in the rural areas of the Philippines. I’ve never seen a company so dedicated to making sure that they are first to market in countries with a developing economy. It pays off in the long run and of course you can sell a whole lot of cheap phones compared to a few number of expensive (hello N95!) ones.