Even though Nokia is beginning to fightback in the mobile market with its Windows Phone handsets, the company's Series 40 platform continues to attract interest. The Finnish manufacturer has announced the significant milestone of 1.5 billion S40 sales since the platform's inception in 1999.
“We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone. Having 1.5 billion Series 40 devices sold is a hard-to-reach mark, let alone one attainable in a single line of products,” said Mary McDowell, Executive Vice President for Mobile Phones at Nokia.
“At a time when we are maintaining our commitment to connecting the next billion customers around the world – it is gratifying to consider how Series 40 devices have made mobile technology accessible and help continue to change people's lives for the better.”
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The 1.5 billionth handset, a Nokia Asha 303, was bought by 21-year old Mayara Rodrigues in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Originally introduced 13 years ago on Nokia's 7110 device, S40 is the world's most widely used mobile phone platform with the company estimating there are currently 675 active owners globally. It currently sells 12 phones of the S40 family every second.
While Nokia has come in for criticism for not keeping pace with other manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and HTC, these impressive figures indicate that the Finland-based company still play a significant role in the mobile market.
Even though the company is now focusing its attention on Windows powered phones, the continued interest in its S40 platform can only be seen as good news. Emerging markets and consumers too poor to afford smartphones are sure to maintain the S40's success.
The platform is still able to run a wide range of apps including instant messaging, social networking and interactive games including the hugely popular Angry Birds. Around 3.7 app downloads are registered by Nokia every day.
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