The world's top mobile handset maker Nokia launched on Wednesday its first phone with a built-in one-megapixel digital camera, aiming to keep pace with strong demand for phones that also take pictures.
Nokia said in a statement issued for the CeBIT technology fair in Hanover, Germany, that the one-megapixel 7610 camera handset will retail for around $616.80 and be available in the second quarter of 2004.
It will be a tri-band phone, meaning it will work on GSM networks in Europe, North America and Asia, and also offers a "lifeblog" function, which puts a time stamp on and organizes pictures, videos or messages to ease access to them.
Demand for camera phones has surged, especially in mature handset markets like Europe where people are looking to upgrade to new models with fancier features like color screens and the ability to take sharper pictures.
Nokia rival Sony Ericsson said last week about 30 percent of all phones sold globally in 2004 would have a built-in camera.
But Nokia's camera offering falls short of those announced by rivals.
Tough competition
Germany's Siemens unveiled a 1.3-megapixel model earlier on Wednesday that will be available in the third quarter. Sony Ericsson will have a 1.3-megapixel camera phone due out in Europe in the fourth quarter.
More pixels means better picture resolution and better prints. Most camera phones sold in Europe and the U.S. now have about around 300,000 pixels.
Camera phones in Japan and Korea already offer two to three megapixels — on par with the offering of standard digital cameras. More advanced digital cameras can shoot four to six megapixels.
Nokia shares were unruffled by the launch news, up 1.9 percent at $21.26 and slightly lagging the index of its European technology peers.
The share has added over 25 percent in 2004 as investors bet Nokia, which makes more than one in three handsets sold globally, will benefit from robust demand, especially in developing markets like India, China and Russia.
Disappointing announcement for some
Nokia has traditionally used CeBIT to launch a raft of new phones, making Wednesday's meager offerings from the sector leader disappointing for some.
"I am surprised they only launched one product. I expected a lot more," said analyst Ben Wood at research firm Gartner. "There is more in the pipeline, but they have to launch more phones to maintain their leadership."
Analyst Karri Rinta at Finland's Evli Securities said Nokia could be holding back to launch phones at the CTIA 2004 technology fair in Atlanta next week.
"(But today) was a bit of an anti-climax as I was expecting to be dazzled by new products," he said.
Nokia on Thursday also launched a hard drive to store digital images, video clips and messages, an area it sees growing as more people buy camera phones.
"The (phone) is an important part, but not the only one," Nokia Senior Vice President Juha Putkiranta told Reuters in an interview. "The value is more coming from surrounding (accessories)."