Earlier this week, rumors hit the Internet that Nokia could be dropping Samsung as one of the major parts suppliers for its smartphones. Now we may have a reason for this reported change as Samsung has announced plans to launch a new line of inexpensive smartphones that could rival Nokia's Asha line.
Samsung's press release introduces the REX brand, which will launch with four devices – REX 90, REX 80, REX 70, and REX 60 – that have screen sizes ranging from 2.8 to 3.5 inches. The phones run on Java and feature Samsung's TouchWiz UI. As you might expect, they are not exactly designed to compete with the iPhone or serve as a replacement for the Galaxy S III, although they will have support for apps such as Facebook and Twitter and come with a version of the Opera web browser.
While Samsung has not revealed a price point for the REX phones yet, it's clear that they are designed to be very cheap and made for markets such as China and India where most of the population cannot afford the higher end smartphones. Nokia has sold a lot of its Asha line of smartphones designed specifically for these markets. Nokia recently announced it sold 9.3 million of the Asha phones in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Samsung has yet to announce a launch date or territories for its REX smartphones.
Source: Samsung | Image via Samsung
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