BusinessWeek interviews Nokia’s CEO on his India strategy:
How important are the emerging markets for Nokia’s growth today?
They are very important. But it’s key to understand here that India is quite a versatile market when it comes to a mobile device. The Nokia N-series and E-series generate 25% of our sales in India, and those are the mid-tier and high-end devices. So you can’t say that it’s an entry market where just low-end phones are sold.
Penetration is important in India, where you get the first-time mobile-phone user. But at the same time, there’s a big replacement and upgrading market moving toward more sophisticated phones. When it comes to software, it depends on what kind of phones are sold here. It’s a different entry market where software is important—for example, Internet browsing through mobile phones. India is an advanced market in many ways, and I can’t classify it as an entry market or an emerging market.