Selfie trend boosts mobile phone sales
KATHMANDU, DEC 17 -
The swelling trend of plastering social media platforms with selfies and wefies has prompted cell phone dealers to roll out models having front-facing cameras with a resolution of at least 5 MP or those having a 90-degree wide angle.
Traders said that they had been receiving myriad inquiries about these phones, and that their sales had jumped in the domestic market.
Brands like Lava and Micromax have named their models Selfie, while other manufactures are competing to launch mobiles equipped with 5 MP to 13 MP cameras. HTC’s Desire 820 has an 8 MP front camera and Micromax’s upcoming phone Canvas Selfie is equipped with a 13 MP front and rear camera. Lava has also launched Iris X 5 phone that comes with a 5 MP front-facing camera.
The Sony Xperia C3 comes with a dedicated selfie cam with a 5 MP front camera and an 8 MP rear camera. “Today’s younger generation wants to capture selfies and wefies and share them instantly. This is why companies are focusing on upgrading front cameras,” said Binil Bajracharya, managing director of Nepa Hima Trade Links, the authorised distributor of Sony in Nepal.
The C3 is priced at Rs 32,500. Huawei’s domestic distributor Call Mobility recently launched the Honor 6 that sports a 5 MP front-facing camera and comes with a camera app to offer beautification effects to get the perfect selfie.
Microsoft’s Lumia 730 sports a 5 MP with wide-angle lens. The phone is being marketed as “built for Skype and selfies phone”. The phone has preloaded Lumia Selfie apps to help users create perfect selfies.
Yogesh Roy, national sales manager of Neoteric Nepal, the authorised distributor of Microsoft phones in Nepal, said, “The Lumia 730 is the latest phone from Microsoft targeting selfie enthusiasts.”
Integrated Mobility Solutions (IMS), the authorised distributor of Samsung in Nepal, recently launched a selfie-focused smartphone named the Galaxy Grand Prime with a 5 MP and 85 degree wide angle lens camera. Similarly, the Note 4 is Samsung’s best selfie phablet in the high-end segment. It comes with a 120-degree wide angle lens in the front camera that sports a 3.7 MP front camera.
Seeing the surge in demand for selfie-friendly phones in the market, Pashupati Trade Link, the authorised distributor for Micromax phones in Nepal, has planned to launch the Micromax Canvas Selfie phone that boasts 13 MP front and rear cameras. Bhupal Chhetri, sales head at Pashupati Trade Link, said that the phone would arrive in the domestic market within two weeks.
Sama Shrestha, sales and marketing manager of Ctv Mobile, a retailer of various branded mobiles, said, “Customers want to know about front-facing cameras while buying phones.”
Source: The Kathmandu Post
