Nokia Mobile India head: Our pricing is based on experience we’re delivering
Head of HMD Global India Ajey Mehta did a video interview for TheMobileIndian.com. In the video they discussed interesting topics, including the Nokia 7.2 and the pricing of the device in India.
The interview is Hindi, so it’s harder to understand, but community member with the username NokiaMob lover (thank you very much :)) provided a transcript of the interview.
The journalist asked really good questions and on few times pressed HMD’s Ajey Mehta on the questions of how (un)competitive Nokia 7.2 is priced in India, the hefty price discounts happening months after release and importance of after sales services.
Ajey re-iterated that Nokia Mobile views phones as more than the sum of their parts. Nokia 7.2 comes with a best in class camera, great screen, two day battery life and Android One, with 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates. Nokia Mobile views the security update as very important, especially in the coming years when more devices will be connected online, said HMD’s Head of India.
The interviewer asked about OLED screens that competition uses, but Nokia 7.2 is still on LCD. Ajey explained that the PureDisplay delivers excellent experience in viewing content, using Pixelworks technology. As someone who had a chance to use few midrange phones with OLED screens (Mi A3, Galaxy A50), I can say that these OLEDs aren’t as good as OLED displays on flagships, which is expected considering the price difference. The thing is, OLED was reserved mostly for higher end devices because OLED displays are more expensive to manufacture than LCD displays. On the other hand, Nokia 7.2’s display may have better color reproduction, contrast, HDR10+ support, but OLED brings the benefit of power saving when using Dark mode. That’s another pair of shoes, but I have to agree with Nokia Mobile here using a great LCD panel compared to an average OLED.
HMD’s Head of India was also asked about the specs of the phone (Snapdragon 660 and 3500mAh battery compared to more powerful specs on competitor devices) and he responded that Nokia Mobile cares more about the experience (smooth performance and 2-day battery life) than specs on paper. Nokia phones are priced at a level the customer is willing to pay for a Nokia phone, said Mr. Mehta.
While I also believe a device should be judged more than the sum of its parts on paper, I also think that the things on paper should be good enough to attract customers. We are in the situation where even the industry leader Samsung started pushing out aggressively priced phones to remain the No.1 phone brand, so I’m really not sure if selling experience will be enough for the 7.2 and 6.2 to have a market success.
Also, an interesting question is regarding big discounts on Nokia smartphones just a few months after release. Ajey explained that it is an industry trend and that is normal after 3 months to lower the price of “old” devices to make them more attractive because new and better devices arrive. I’m conflicted on this topic for a few reasons. First, a customer buys a product at a price he thinks the product is worth for. Buying a phone and caring for its resale value isn’t in my opinion the best kind of investment strategy to have, but I do understand why people get mad when a device sells for half the price they paid for few months after they made a purchase. I just think it’s pointless to even think about a phone’s price after you bought them. The second thing is that price reduction is in conflict with the philosophy of selling great user experience with a device. The user experience should be the same, if not improved because of updates, in 3 to 6 months period after the launch, so great price reduction and that way of presenting Nokia phones as more than sum of their parts doesn’t make sense. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyways, you can find the video interview here, or the transcribed version at links below.
Thanks NokiaMob lover for the tip 🙂
