Make in India impact: Nokia 6, 5, 3 will cost less in subcontinent; release details revealed

HMD Global Oy, which launched the new Android-powered Nokia 6, 5 and 3 series phones at pre-Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on February 26, has announced the devices' launch date in India.

The company has confirmed that all four phones— Nokia 6, 5, 3 and even the feature-phone Nokia 3310 re-boot— will hit stores in India around June and will be manufactured locally by OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) partner Foxconn, The Economic Times reported citing Arto Numella, CEO, HMD Global Oy.

Also read: MWC 2017: Sony launches new 5G-ready Xperia XZ series with top-notch camera

Make in India Impact:

As the Nokia devices are being assembled in India, HMD Global stands to avail custom duty exemptions and other tax breaks, allowing the company to cut down on the prices.

Even Numella has confirmed that all phones—Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and the Nokia 3310, which cost-- €229 (approx. $243/Rs.16,183), €189 (approx. $200/Rs.13,357), €139 (approx. $147/Rs.9824) and €49(roughly $52/Rs.3,464), respectively, will be sold at a lesser price in India.

Having said that, Nokia will face tough competition from Chinese players especially Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo. Nokia/HMD Global will have to ante up with value-added services and smart customer care to stand up to the competition.

HMD Global has reportedly decided to make use of the existing offline retail chains- previously belonged to Microsoft- and has initiated discussions with major e-commerce firms for selling the phones online in India.

Read more: MWC 2017: HMD Global unveils Nokia 6, 5, 3, Nokia 3310; price, specs; all you need to know

"Building phones locally will help as India is a price sensitive market. But in addition to this, consumer will also expect Nokia to provide rich user experience and reliable products. In India, close to 145 million feature phones will be sold in 2017. So feature phones will be an important segment for Nokia. Apart from this, it should target mid-end smartphone segment. Major competition will be from Chinese players which are offering high end specs at competitive price, a perfect balance of specs and price. And strong retail relations will help Nokia to get back in the game," Parv Sharma, Research Associate at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, told International Business Times, India.

Key specifications of Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3: