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Why the Nokia C2-00 won’t reach the Phils?

It’s been months, actually close to a year, since the first dual-SIM of Nokia was announced but the handset has not yet seen the light of day. The Nokia C2-00 has not yet been released in the Philippines and no word when it will be out (so sorry to all those who have been asking for months now).

The Nokia C2-00 is probably the the first Nokia unit to have a huge gap or delay between announcement and actual release in the market (clocking in at 12 months and counting).

The unit is pretty simple in terms of specs — Bluetooth, VGA camera, WAP browsing and GPRS with the FM tuner capable of FM recording. Both SIM cards are active with one of the slots hot-swappable (can be switched or replaced anytime even while the phone is turned on).

People have been asking — so, what’s the hold-out? Can’t really be sure but I have a number of plausible reasons.

  • Nokia decided it’s not going to slug it out in the dual-SIM market. Not because they think they are too late (Samsung and LG has only recently released their own dual-SIM phones) but because they think the potential markets are regions they are already market-leader (like the Philippines) and it will only disrupt their own numbers.
  • The Nokia C1-00, another dual-SIM but not both are active at the same time, will do for the meantime. The unit has been released in the Philippines since September 2010. I guess Nokia is still tracking the sales performance of this one and it does affect their sales of other similarly-priced handsets.
  • The handset has been completely shelved or held-up indefinitely. It’s possible some executive, high up in Nokia, has blocked the release of this unit. Nokia became #1 worldwide without any dual-SIM phones and it will continue to be #1 without it. That’s just on top of my head.

It’s really puzzling why Nokia has indefinitely delayed the release of their first active dual-SIM phone. We’ll have to ask someone high up from inside the company.

Update: We got a note from Nokia Philippines the same day we posted this and invited me to see the “preview” units of the C2-00 and X1-01. See more details about it here.

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

28 Responses

  1. Avatar for mugilvanan mugilvanan says:

    My sim 2 is not getting activated. I have airtel in sim1 and vodafone in sim 2 whenever i switch on only sim1 is active. Sim 2 says it has no sim. but i have already inserted in sim 2.why is this problem occuring

  2. Avatar for ulol ka! ulol ka! says:

    ulol ka!

  3. Avatar for Tony Tony says:

    I bought this phone in Market
    Market. It is simple and excellent except for battery life. Only last 3 days max with regular calls/text.

  4. Avatar for nathan nathan says:

    Nokia C2 is coming to the Philippines!

    http://ikuwaderno.com/nokia-c2-00-new-dual-sim-phone-with-s40-will-hit-stores-in-the-philippines-this-quarter.html

  5. Avatar for xerdoms xerdoms says:

    There is still some hope that Nokia C2-00 might be released in the phils as Nokia said in its blog – http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/05/24/twice-as-nice-nokia-x1-01-and-nokia-c2-00-with-dual-sim-2/

    The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 will ship this quarter in India, China, South-East Asia/Pacific region, Middle East and Africa, Eurasia and Brazil. Before local taxes or subsidies, the X1-01 will cost €34 while the C2-00 will cost €45.

  6. Avatar for Cherry Cherry says:

    I think Nokia C2-00 has now started shipping and will hit the stores soon. http://nokia.ly/lyeRC8

  7. Avatar for Nino Matienzo Nino Matienzo says:

    i think they will release it sometime this coming month…

  8. Avatar for kannuchi kannuchi says:

    I think possible na mareach ang Philippines ng C2-00.

    http://www.fonearena.com/blog/37845/nokia-says-that-its-finally-shipping-the-c2-00-dual-sim-phone.html

  9. Avatar for PNOY PNOY says:

    Mga Buwaya kc ung mga nagmamanage dito sa Nokia Philippines.Cellphone nila over & unreasonable ung price kahit sbhin mong 1 year waranty pa yan.

    Alam kc nila na pagnilabas nila ito wala ng gano bibili ng mga phones nila na single sims, for example ung mga low ends na nsa 2-5T and price, instead na may bumili nun bka ung dual sim na C2-00 nlng ang bilin nila. But wait lng tayo bka maawa din sila nairelease dito satin, di pa naman din kc available sa europe, magtaka kayo pagnilabas na sa europe pero wla parin dito satin.

  10. Avatar for Kevin Kevin says:

    It’s happening all over again. Nokia’s letting other companies take the lead while they just wait and do nothing. Remember when the first iPhone was released? It took nearly a year before Nokia released a competitor, the 5800. But by then it was already too late. Nokia can beat the crap out of these dual sim china, torque and cherry phones coz Nokias are better in terms of build quality and lasts longer on a charge. 

    • Avatar for kannuchi kannuchi says:

      Nokia has management reorganization which only took place at a too late time.

      But right now, it is not the low-end segment what mobile phones are battling, but on the high-end smartphone sales. Nokia is focusing on mid-range, and eventually prepping up for the upper segment. A typical strong and leading company doesn’t have to release immediately their secret weapon. It takes time to polish a competitive product, unlike Android that release different versions and different hardware, but eventually will have a hard time releasing software updates ON TIME on different varieties of hardware type. They are gaining market share for now, but will lose them after a year or 2.

  11. Avatar for rhyan rhyan says:

    I’ve been waiting for this phone since it was announced. I didn’t opt to buy china dual sim phones since the hardware breaks easily and the OS is not so good. too bad they won’t sell it anymore. :(

  12. Avatar for Benchmark Benchmark says:

    Maybe dahil dito sa Pinas, they knew na magkakaroon na naman ng dalawang competition na lang dahil nga sa merging of SMART and SUN…so it will not be usefull yung hot swappable na unit, parang mas better na lang ang DUAL SIM instead of hotswappable.

    Probably they can just market it na lang sa mga retail stores who sells laods, kasi fo sure mas ok yun, instead of having 3 different phones or more (personal, SUN/SMART and GLOBE).

    Well yun lang ang nakikita ko and just my opinion…hehehehe :)

  13. Avatar for Winziph Winziph says:

    ang lakas kasing magdominate ng mga china phones at malamang malugi lang si nokia pag nakipagsabayan pa siya sa mga yun.

  14. Avatar for adam adam says:

    Hindi na naila-launch laos na.

  15. Avatar for 1001 1001 says:

    well, we have no choice but to choose alternatives aside from nokia for dual sim phones.

  16. Avatar for Elbert Elbert says:

    I was looking for this today in Megamall and found none. I settled for an LG A165 instead. I’m sure they’ve lost some sales this way.

  17. Avatar for wreek888 wreek888 says:

    So sad it was not release, waiting for it maybe i will settle for el cheapo cherry mobile

  18. Avatar for povillo povillo says:

    for economic reason a dual sim both active is ideal for this promos. dont forget to have a sun sim as the other sim, economical at 350/month with 250 free text to other networks.

  19. Avatar for Air|Danio Air|Danio says:

    http://bit.ly/iQS4wE Tsk, Tsk, I agree with you RIch..

  20. Avatar for Rich Rich says:

    I hope Nokia comes up with a really thin Music Phone (similar to 5310, NOT a touch screen phone) that has the Nokia C2-00’s features.. (hot-swappable sim and dual-sim, both active)

    That would be a best Seller for sure!

    • Avatar for 1001 1001 says:

      here’s a suggestion for you.
      http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/05/24/twice-as-nice-nokia-x1-01-and-nokia-c2-00-with-dual-sim-2/

  21. Avatar for Eason Eason says:

    the Nokia C1-00 is a waste of money cause its not dual active, and Nokia to go dual sim is not right. Let the Filipino Chinese OEM capture the market to sell cheap dual sim phones. Honestly MyPhone, Kingcom, Cherry, Torque and many more are just one of the reasons why people are wasting more money.

    Honestly do they really need dual sim phones? or a single sim will suffice their needs? Instead of just using what is needed they load up for 2 sims and hardly even uses the 2nd sim resulting to wastage of money.

    • Avatar for Iyan Sommerset Iyan Sommerset says:

      Some pinoys do require the anonymity/second identity for their illicit activities that two numbers provide. :P

    • Avatar for netbooksearcher netbooksearcher says:

      Not everyone who owns two sims use their second sim for illicit activities. Some, if not most, use it for security reasons. :)

    • Avatar for rhyan rhyan says:

      I have 2 lines and I don’t use it for illicit reasons but for economy since the second line is unli text and call to my family and people in that network.

  22. Avatar for kannuchi kannuchi says:

    Reason should be to better sell their other low-end units, that has been forecasted that C2 might diminish the sales on those phones.

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