Nokia Unveils Free Music Downloads Deal

Wed, 05 Dec 2007

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has unveiled new plans to offer free music downloads to buyers of its up-and-coming music phones, taking on Apple’s iTunes in the process.

The mobile phone giant has announced a deal with Universal Music that will enable buyers to choose and keep - free of charge - material from the label’s entire back catalogue for 12 months.

Nokia aims to ship more than 180 million music-enabled phones worldwide during the next twelve months.

The company’s "Comes with Music" offer will launch from the second half of 2008 and is set to take on Apple, which dominates the digital music market with its iTunes online download store .

The Finnish mobile giant added that it was in discussions with a number of other record labels regarding the use of their material.

Universal's international chairman and chief executive, Lucian Grainge, said the offering would allow the label's artists to "reach new audiences in a very easy and affordable way".

Meanwhile, at its annual investor day Nokia forecast that the overall market for mobile phone sales would grow by around 10 per cent next year, following on from Samsung’s estimate of 12 per cent market growth made last week.

Nokia continued to highlight its strong position in the mobile phone sector, adding it expects margins of 20 per cent from its phones and services business over the next couple of years and aims to increase its market share .

Shares in Nokia dropped by around 4 per cent on the margins announcement, with investors expecting a more positive forecast from its key business .

"We have made great strides in strengthening Nokia's device portfolio over the past year," commented Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's president and chief executive .

"The improvements we've made have driven the profitable growth and market share gains Nokia has enjoyed in 2007, and we aim to continue the good momentum in our device portfolio next year," he added.

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