Brief: Revamped Nokia 3310 now available for pre-order in Indonesia

Nokia relaunched its classic 3310 phone, calling the new model Nokia Reborn. Photo credit: Nokia.

The news:

• The re-imagined version of Nokia’s classic 3310 phone, Nokia Reborn, is now available for pre-order in Indonesia.
• Local ecommerce store Dinomarket started taking pre-orders, says news site Kompas. The phone sells for US$48.90 but won’t ship until July 17.
• HMD Global, the Finnish company that markets the Nokia brand, unveiled Nokia Reborn at Mobile World Congress (MWC) earlier this year.

Why it matters:

• The old Nokia 3310 was particularly popular in emerging markets like Indonesia. In 2012, Nokia shipped more phones to Indonesia than any other brand, according to IDC data. Blackberry phones, also popular in the country ranked number one among smartphones that year.
• Interest in Nokia phones began to fade in the years of the smartphone boom on the back of the Android operating system. Brands like Samsung and Oppo became Indonesian consumers’ new favorites.
• Nokia Reborn could help Nokia regain a foothold in Indonesia, but may be perceived as pricey, said IDC. In a release after the phone’s MWC launch, IDC Indonesia analyst Risky Febrian commented that the phone costs nearly twice as much as other phones in the same category on the market.

Converted from Indonesian Rupiah. Rate: US$1 = IDR 13,290.

Source: Kompas.