The iPhone 4 may be the talk of the town right now but the truth of the matter is, many in the world’s most populous continent — Asia — will not be able to afford it.
Nokia knows this and has recently launched it’s entry level smartphone — the C3 — in Indonesia.
As a smartphone, the Nokia C3 can barely be called that. Specs wise, it’s not going to make many in the developed countries go gaga but for emerging markets this could be the ticket to jumping onto the smartphone bandwagon. The C3, Nokia says, is the phone that will make connectiong to your friends via social networks affordable and easy.
The C3 is Nokia’s first Series 40 mobile phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. It’s also the first S40 phone with access to social networks directly on the homescreen. The quad-band device has a 2MP camera, 2.4-inch (320 x 240) QVGA screen, Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi (b/g). On board internal memory is a miniscule 55MB but is expandable up to 8GB via microSD. Sadly though, it runs on EDGE, not 3G. Also, no GPS.
At launch, the Nokia C3 can be had for around RM360, very close to what Nokia said it will retail for when the phone maker first announced the C3’s existence; which was roughly RM400.
Check out the Nokia C3 Indonesian launch day plus one official promo video after the jump.
We mentioned at the announcement that with such a lo entry point the C3 could be a very popular prepaid bundle phone. But there’s no official word on when and if the C3 will make a Malaysian appearance so whether this is true or not, remains to be seen.
What we know is that on the C3 first day in the Indonesia, it has created quite a buzz with Indonesians forming long, snaking queues to get their hand on one. The line is indeed impressive, something the likes we’ve never seen here for a phone lunch. Not even for the iPhone launch. Guess the telco boys here have to work harder in the promotions department.
Our Indonesian neighbors is the country in Southeast Asia to launch the C3. Nokia has high expectations for the C3 and will launch the phone across the region as early as next month. The world’s #1 mobile phone brand expects the C3 to sell well in the region.
