Microsoft finally launched the Lumia 530 in Kenya following the global announcement sometime back and a phased launch in other countries like India. Lumia 530 sits at the bottom of the food chain where Microsoft Windows Phone smartphones are concerned. It also represents the will Microsoft has had for quite some time now of getting Windows phone devices come at lower prices. As you may know now, affordable has played a huge role in whatever small marketshare Windows phone has and this seems to be a primary strategy for Microsoft now, drive mass sales at the bottom and get them oriented.
Lumia 530 is positioned to sell to the users who are either joining the smartphone world or are using entry level smartphones. This sits pretty at the position Nokia X and Asha smartphones are and will be exiting from. You might know by now that the two (Nokia X and Asha phones) are on their way out in Microsoft’s strategy of the entry level smartphone, and ultimately in their business altogether.
Now Lumia 530 entry does not necessarily mean the exit of Lumia 520 from the market per se as Kingori Gitahi, Operative Product and Devices Manager, Microsoft Mobile Devices said at a separate interview. The two will go on selling alongside each other. “Lumia 520 still sells effortlessly and it if ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Kingori adding that the phone is still in demand even in the far fetched towns.
Read: 60% Of Windows Phone Smartphone Shipments Are For One Device
Microsoft Devices, formerly Nokia, usually has a product cycle and devices in the same price and value proposition segment are not allowed to compete in the same space, the lesser selling or older device gets phased out. Devices like Lumia 720 and Lumia 820 went out quite early.
You might notice that the Asha devices, Nokia X and entry level Lumias seemed to negate that, but the first two have since been declared end of life and what you will see of these is clearing of stock and no new phone in this line comes out of Redmond again, ever. But Lumia 520 which price-wise lies between Lumia 530 and Lumia 630 has defied the odds and though Microsoft might not say it, this is their hero device for 2014. Such titles are strategically placed for the top of the food chain products like Lumia 1020, Lumia 930 and Lumia 1520.
So what do you need to know about Lumia 530?
Lumia 530 is a 4 inch smartphone that comes running Windows Phone 8.1 with the Lumia Cyan update, bears a 1.2Ghz Quad Core processor with the Snapdragon 200 chipset, Adreno 302 GPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage expandable via microSD to 128GB, 5MP camera rear and no front camera. See the full specs sheet here.
The phone is already available through the usual channels and a deal with Orange sees the phone bundled with a Coloud Bang speaker, and data bundling at Orange stores countrywide at the same price as open market of Kshs 11,000 (USD 123).
