14 DAY TRIAL // The first mobile phones to feature Amharic have just been released by Nokia. The lineup includes Nokia 1200, 1208, 2630 and 2760, all adapted to best suit the Ethiopian market.
The four mobile phones have been packed with several features targeted especially at the market in this country. Nokia has included a large number of features and applications that are supposed to make it easier for people living in these areas to handle them. Interesting enough, the devices have Amharic keypad, which allows the users there to express themselves in their native language.
Nokia has pulled a big one here, as only few people living in this country are familiarized with foreign languages. This would have made mobile phones difficult to use and almost impossible to understand for some. By making this move, Nokia has high chances of introducing its products on a new market, which had low chances of understanding what benefits can come from these devices.
It's a smart choice, coming from the leading handset producer, that looks to bring its low end mobile phones on a new market and increase its profits even more from selling this type of products. The handsets chosen to support the Amharic keypad also clearly state Nokia's intention, as they are all low end devices, aiming especially towards those who need only the basic communication resources and are not familiar with foreign languages.
People in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Mozambique will have the chance of benefiting from Nokia's decision of equipping its handsets with Amharic keypad. The new handsets equipped with the special features will soon be available for sale through Nokia's authorized distributor in Ethiopia, Glorious PLC. All the mobile phones will come at prices rangeing between 35 and 90 dollars excluding customs duty, transportation and other costs, which should make them accessible to a large number of people.