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The ’STATUS’ cell phones in Nepali market
KATHMANDU: Nokia recently sold two of its most expensive cell phones in the Nepali market. The phones of the 8800 series were worth more than Rs 100,000 each.
Nokia 8800 is like any other cell phone. In fact some of its features - like its 3.2 megapixel camera – are of an outdated model. But it is still the most expensive cell phone introduced by Nokia – and the most expensive available in the Nepali market – largely because it flaunts a sapphire-studded joystick and a titanium body.
Those who take cell phones solely as communications tools may argue there is not much difference between a plastic joystick and a sapphire one, or a steel body and a body made of titanium. To them a phone is just another commodity – whether it costs Rs 1,500 or Rs 100,000. But to some – mostly men in Nepal’s context – mobile phones are akin to what gold or diamond jewelry are to women.
“They consider expensive phones a status symbol,” says Subir Shrestha, assistant sales manager of Neoteric Nepal, the authorized distributor of Nokia phones in Nepal. “They think flaunting stylish, expensive phones give them confidence while meeting and talking to people. They also think those phones flaunt the success they have attained in life. Price is not a big consideration for that crowd.”
As new technologies and advanced functions appear on mobile phones, their prices are also going up. On top of that – as in the case of the Nokia 8800 – the materials used in manufacturing the phones and the investments that have gone into giving them a chic look are also pushing up prices.
HTC’s Touch HD, for instance, costs Rs 78,000 whereas Sony Ericsson’s Xpedia sells for Rs 69,500. Both these phones, like the phones of Nokia’s E-series, are recommended for executives. On such phones you can perform all the tasks that you can on notebooks.
Then there are phones such as Samsung’s i900, priced at Rs 56,000, and Nokia’s N96, which costs Rs 54,750. These phones are especially made for entertainment purposes, and using one you can shoot high resolution pictures, listen to music and watch movies. Both these phones come with internal storage capacity of 16GB each – big enough to store up to 40 hours of videos and any number of pictures. You can call them a camera and portable media player bundled into one.
You can also see people carrying the Blackberry or Apple’s iPhone although there are no authorized dealers for these products in Nepal. “These phones are popular among a niche crowd but the market is growing,” says Rajan Rayamajhi, owner of Gadgets & Gizmos, which sells at least one phone worth more than Rs 50,000 per week.
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