Nokia says the Price-tag on Windows Phone 7 Devices Will Fall Fast

I don’t know what to make of this one.  Stephen Elop on Friday said that we will see the price of Windows Phone devices fall fast  This is both good and bad news in my opinion. For one, I think everyone wants phones that aren’t going to cost 1 months rent. On the other, No one wants ‘cheap’ phones.

'Elop said one of the key topics in the talks on doing a deal with Microsoft was convincing Nokia that it could reach "a very low price point."

"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a meeting with Finnish business journalists.

Trying to better compete with Apple's iPhone, Microsoft has so far had tight hardware requirements for phone models using its software — pushing up handset prices and limiting the potential market.

As part of the push to a wider market and lower prices, Microsoft plans to open its mobile platform to other chipset suppliers beyond Qualcomm.'

If Microsoft can balance this out where we can have both ‘budget’ handset and still hold on to our premium devices, Things can possibly work. Remember this isn't necessarily a battle against the iPhone. Android is running rampant around the world and that should be their first target. Possibly leaving the minimum requirements as-is for the whole WP7 life cycle can be the solution.

Source: Reuters