Nokia to flood emerging markets with budget blowers

Before unleashing its Windows Phone range on the world, Nokia first unveiled the Asha collection, a Series 40 line of low-end handsets.

The Nokia Asha 200, 201, 300 and 303 are designed to get users in developing countries connected to the web. Looking at Nokia's new numerical naming system, it's easy to see where these guys sit on the food chain.

All four are built from polycarbonate and boast a Nokia Browser, which cuts data costs by compressing page information by up to 90 per cent - presumably with the help of a proxy server.

The top dogs are the 300 and 303, which come with touchscreens, 1GHz processors and 5Mp cameras.

The Nokia Asha 300 is expected to start shipping for €85 (£74) in Q4 2011. The Asha 303, which has a 2.6in display and full Qwerty keyboard, will also be available before the year is up, for €115 (£100).

At the low end is the Nokia Asha 200, a battery-tastic Qwerty phone that packs an option to include two Sim cards and easily swap between them.

The Nokia Asha 201 throws in many of the same features, but lacks the multi-Sim support. The 200 will ship in Q4 for approximately €60 (£52), with the 201 coming in the new year for a similar price. ®