Nokia also targeting online sales in China, ties up with second largest Chinese eTailer

Nokia also targeting online sales in China, ties up with second largest Chinese eTailer

December 24, 2012 | By Surur

Nokia has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with 360buy.com, the second-largest  e-commerce retailer in China, with annual sales of 30.8 billion yuan in 2011.

"Online shopping is booming in China," said Gustavo Eichelmann, chief executive officer of Nokia China. "Nokia will strengthen cooperation with third party e-commerce websites." 

The move is in preference to Nokia opening its own Chinese online store.

In return  360buy.com agreed to purchase 2 billion yuan (US$320 million) worth of mobile phones from Nokia next year.

The company is already selling the Nokia Lumia 920, and Wang Xiaosong, vice-president of 360buy.com, said that about 3,000 units of Lumia 920 had been sold the first day the product landed on 360buy.

All future Nokia devices will sell through online and offline channels in China simultaneously, Eichelmann confirmed.

About 30 million mobile phones are expected to be sold online in China this year, up 68 per cent from 2011, according to a report issued by SINO Market Research. The growth rate is more than 10 times that for mobile phones that were sold in offline outlets during the period.

Read more at ChinaDaily.com