Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Phone maker eyes wider RP distribution
WHILE Nokia is the top mobile phone manufacturer in nearly all continents including Asia, the company’s Philippine arm has laid out plans to expand distribution and after-sales support services.
Nokia Philippines general manager William Hamilton-Whyte said the company will be developing a larger distribution landscape through its own stores and partner-distributors.
He said Nokia will also conduct training of front-liners, or sales people, as well as owners of retail outlets to educate them about the various features of Nokia products.
Whyte said Nokia wants to make retail shop owners “understand about how to attract more customers.”
“We also want to make sure that those who will sell Nokia will be very professional,” he said in a press briefing. “We want to defend the brand image and make sure that consumers get the service that they need.”
Drop-off
Whyte said Nokia will also enable retail outlets to be drop-off points for customers who need to have their Nokia cellular phones repaired.
He said Nokia’s plan to widen distribution to even remote areas in the country is the company’s way to help small businesses have access to information through wireless communication facilities.
He said as an archipelago with more than 7,100 islands, many areas in the Philippines are difficult to connect through landline phones. He added that this is where mobile phones play a more important role.
Whyte also said Nokia will be “more and more present” in Cebu with the future opening of another Nokia store at the Ayala Center extension building.
Whyte said Nokia “grew so much more in the past eight months in the Philippines than ever before” and that it is preparing for further growth.
He said Nokia’s market share of mobile phone users worldwide was 36 percent in 2006, with one out of three cellular phone sold being a Nokia.
The mobile phone manufacturer is also expected to offer improved “entry-level” cellular phones which will come as cheap as P3,000.
Phones
Nikka Singson-Abes, Nokia corporate communications manager, said the company will be launching worldwide an entry-level phone which has a multi-user function and flashlight.
The multi-user function is appropriate for families who share one phone. Through the multi-user feature, each user will be able to protect or lock his or her phonebook and other data from other users of the same phone.
Abes said Nokia will also be coming out with slimmer models and those with higher storage capacity for music, video and data.
Whyte warned buyers, though, to buy only those with a one-year warranty sticker on the box when buying a Nokia phone.
He said there are several Nokia phones from the “gray market” which are smuggled to the Philippines from other countries and are not covered by warranty.
“They are still Nokia phones but because they are not intended for the Philippine market, they do not have warranty,” he said.
Abes also cautioned buyers about imitation Nokia phones. (LAP)
