Smartphones may be getting most of the attention in the mobile phone industry because of the amazing features that are constantly being introduced by phone manufacturers. But feature phones are not entirely dead yet. In fact, feature phones are still selling at a very impressive rate.
Nokia has recently announced that it has sold its 1.5 billionth feature phone – a Series 40 model. The company also said that they sell 12 similar phones very second.
The landmark phone was sold to a woman in Brazil and the phone purchased was a Nokia Asha 303. People who love to nitpick will say that the Nokia Asha 303 is not entirely a feature phone because it possesses features that we have come to associate with smartphones – a touch screen, a 1Ghz processor, social networking apps, the ability to download and install apps, various connectivity options, a QWERTY keyboard, camera and media player.
So what does this mean? Manufacturers are beginning to blur the line between feature phones and smart phones in an attempt to gain more market share and become a stronger player in the mobile phone market. Samsung and Nokia still have strong feature phone model lines – for example, the C1 and X1 models for the Nokia (these are no-frills phones, with some models not even having cameras), and the Samsung E class mobile phones.
But Sony is taking a different tactic by phasing out feature phones completely and just concentrating on smart phones, although this will mean it will now be competing with Apple and HTC in that segment of the market.
Originally posted on January 26, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
