On Monday, Nokia released the Nokia 105 (http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/105), a $20 phone targeted at customers in developing countries. The low-end feature phone, which has more capabilities than a "dumb phone" but fewer than a smart phone, will likely help the company continue to thrive in the third world (http://www.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10430046-269.html).
Smart phones may be trendy in developed nations, but 70 percent of global cell demand is still for low-end feature products (http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/27/mobile-developing-world/), TechCruch reports. What's more, Africa is the world's fastest growing mobile market (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15659983), so for a mixed-price mobile manufacturer like Nokia, there's a fortune to be made in the developing world. The demand for the new phone may even outstrip that for Nokia's previous low-end phone, the Nokia 1100 (http://gizmodo.com/5634258/the-most-popular-phone-in-the-world), which was the world's best-selling phone (http://gizmodo.com/5634258/the-most-popular-phone-in-the-world). It will almost certainly see more demand than Nokia's signature high-end phone, the Lumia 920 (http://www.nokia.com/us-en/products/phone/lumia920/).
A phone for people to use in developing countries, where electricity is often sparse and infrastructure near-nonexistent, cannot simply be a clone of an American "dumb phone." See the gallery below for a look at the necessary special features and a window into the makeshift mobile market of the developing world.
Via: HuffingtonPost