The mobile phone market in Pakistan is getting mature with the passage of time, and that is evident from the fact that more than 8 new smartphone manufacturing companies have entered the market over the last couple years. Due to this development, many mainstream companies such as Samsung have become conscious of the stiff competition they have to face from their competitors. With the demand of mobile phones also on the rise, the companies are now forced to revise their pricing strategies so as to remain relevant in the market and help themselves retain more and more customers. In this regard, Samsung had reduced the prices of its flagship, mid-range as well as low-range smartphones in the previous month. Now, Nokia mobile phones, owned by HMD Global, are available in the market with amazingly reduced prices.
Prices of 6 Nokia mobile phones have been reduced in Pakistan, which include the flagship to low-range mobile phones. One of the biggest price changes by HMD Global is in case of Nokia 8, which was earlier priced at Rs. 49,990. The current Nokia 8 price in Pakistan is only Rs. 35,990, which triggers the Rs. 14,000 reduction in price. Another landmark price change is in case of Nokia 6 (2018), which was released back in January, 2018, and HMD Global has been quite quick in reducing its price. The earlier price was Rs. 29,900, and the new Nokia 6 (2018) price in Pakistan is Rs. 21,735, i.e. the difference of Rs. 8,165.
Similarly, new Nokia 6 price in Pakistan is Rs. 19,900, which was earlier Rs. 24,950. Nokia 5 price in Pakistan is Rs. 17,650, which was Rs. 19,500 earlier. Moreover, the low range Nokia 2 price in Pakistan now is Rs. 11,920, which was earlier priced at Rs. 12,470, while Nokia 1 price in Pakistan now is Rs. 9,250, which was priced at Rs. 10,900 before.
There are multiple reasons and possibilities for such aggressive price reduction applied by HMD Global for Nokia phones in Pakistan. Let’s analyze those possibilities in detail.
Stiff Mobile Market Competition
As mentioned above, the mobile phone market is becoming quite saturated, and it is likely that Nokia would have realized that in order to compete directly with the emerging brands in Pakistan, e.g. Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo, the company will have to keep the prices competitive. Xiaomi has released different phones belonging to its Mi and Redmi series, and we have seen that the prices set by the Chinese mobile phone company have been quite buyer-friendly. One example in this regard is the Xiaomi Redmi 5, which is priced at Rs. 20,499. This phone has high popularity among users in Pakistan, and in order to beat it, HMD Global reduced the price of Nokia 6 in particular. Specs of both the phones are about same, and you can check that through comprehensive Nokia 6 vs Xiaomi Redmi 5 comparison.
Another example is that of Nokia 8, which directly competes with Xiaomi Mi 6, and the price of latter was lower. HMD Global has now reduced the price of Nokia 8, and the comparison between Nokia 8 and Xiaomi Mi 6 does make the former a better choice for the users. Hence, the stiff market competition does go in favor of HMD Global now, given the extensively aggressive price cuts.
Bid to Remain Relevant in Mobile Market
As mentioned above, many companies are emerging in the mobile phone market, and Nokia was once again feeling neglected in the mobile market. That was evident due to the release of a larger variety of mobile phones such as Oppo F7, Vivo V7, Vivo V9, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, Sony Xperia L2, Huawei P20 Lite and many, many more! Most of these mobile phones have been released with a very competitive price tag, and hence in order to remain relevant in the market and maintain its presence, Nokia mobile phone prices had to be reduced, or it would have faced an early exit from the smartphone competition.
Low Sales Volume!
Nokia phones used to be popular back in the 2010s, but with the release of touchscreen phones, feature phones manufactured by Nokia started becoming gradually irrelevant. Nokia was then taken over by HMD Global, and the company came up with new Nokia smartphones. The rigorous and back-to-back smartphone releases by HMD Global for Nokia was experienced in 2017. However, the company could not be able to achieve the expected sales volume that it initially aimed to gain. That might be the reason that Nokia phones’ prices have been reduced in order to increase the sales.
New Nokia Phones Coming Up?
We have seen that Nokia X6 is going to be released in the few days from now. Similarly, Nokia 8 Sirocco has also been released, and it will be available in the market soon. Moreover, Nokia 7 plus is already in the market, and which is one of the most affordable upper mid-range phones at the moment. Nokia 7 plus review also suggests that this will be a benchmark for competitors to produce and present phones of such great specs in reasonable price. Hence, the current price reduction in most of the Nokia phones indicates the arrival of new Nokia smartphones in the coming months.