Microsoft eyes bigger chunk of smartphone, tablet market
MICROSOFT aims to carve out bigger slices of the smartphone and tablet markets by launching new series of such devices, focusing on the affordable category.
Cecile Mengoli, Microsoft’s general manager for mobile devices, said yesterday that the smartphone market in Thailand was still growing, especially for those costing less than Bt10,000.
This is where the company will be until late this year when Windows 10 comes to the market. Then the company will launch flagship products above the Bt10,000 price point.
“There are 97 million mobile-phone subscriptions in Thailand, while there are 67 million people. More people are upgrading to smartphones.
“IDC [International Data Corporation] predicts that smartphone penetration in Thailand will be around 50 per cent. Microsoft wants to capture this growth,” she said.
Microsoft’s mobile devices, both smartphones and tablets, will be led by its operating platform, especially Windows 10. For smartphones, for the moment, the company focuses on the mid-to-low market.
Once LTE (long-term evolution) fourth-generation service is available in the Thai market, it will launch high-end products.
“At the moment, we offer different models to serve different markets at different price points. For example, the Microsoft Lumia 540 Dual SIM will be available in June at Bt4,990, Lumia 640 at Bt5,990, Lumia 640 XL at Bt7,990 and Lumia 640 XL LTE at Bt8,990,” Mengoli said.
The Lumia 640 XL LTE and Surface 3 are its flagship products in Thailand for the moment.
The Lumia 640 XL LTE is available for pre-orders at “Thailand Mobile Expo 2015”, running from today to Sunday, for Bt8,990 along with a free flip case valued at Bt1,000 in an exclusive offer, while the Surface 3 is also available for Bt17,400.
Both devices come with a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal worth Bt1,899.
Globally in the first quarter, Microsoft Lumia sales jumped 18 per cent year on year to 8.6 million units, while Surface’s revenue surged 44 per cent.
“Every two months we will launch new smartphones,” she said, with their popularity likely to increase once Windows 10 has landed.
