3 Trading Ideas As Microsoft Enters Cheap Phone Segment

Microsoft (MSFT) is expanding its Windows Phone (“WP”) globally, by partnering with Huawei Technologies. Sporting a Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon S4 running at 1.2 gigahertz (dual core), the 4Afrika model will be tailored for the African market. Shortly afterwards, the phone will be released in the nearby regions, including Egypt and Kenya. Competition for gaining users is fierce: Nokia’s (NOK) once-dominant position in phones is declining globally. Now, Android-based devices are dominating emerging markets. [More tech articles: Activision: Don’t Miss Out on This Content Dominator]

In North America, Nokia’s Lumia 620 is a entry-level smartphone that is receiving good reviews. The device is available on many color cases, is a solid build, and runs Qualcomm’s 1Ghz Snapdragon S4 processor. The display is a rich 3.8-inch, with a resolution of 800 x 480. The device has just 512MB of RAM, but a microSD reader supports storage expansion. Microsoft is promoting its “cloud” offering, giving users 7GB of cloud storage with “SkyDrive.”

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