Nokia N9 starts shipping, with heavy price tag

Nokia has just reported that the first Nokia N9 units have started leaving factories in Finland and are heading to shops around the globe. At this point we are just a few days from the actual availability of the first MeeGo-running smartphone.
What seems a bit worrying though is the Nokia price estimates. According to the Finns, the 16GB Nokia N9 will cost €480, whereas the 64GB version will go for €560. And those are prices before taxes, so they would actually end up higher.
Unless carriers embrace the phone and offer heavy subsidies on it, that is. With the N9 being the platform flagship, it will be quite important for it to gain some significant market share in order to attract developers, who are the beating heart of every ecosystem. And, frankly, we can’t see that happening at the prices quoted by Nokia.
Not even with the ultra-cool design, the rich feature set and the innovative and intuitive OS that impressed us so much, when we met a while ago.
Here’s hoping we are wrong and the N9 turns out a success. MeeGo is such a cool platform that it will be a shame for it to follow the webOS footsteps.

In India The N9 will be available in two variants – 16GB and 64GB – that will be priced at approximately Rs 32,000 and Rs 37,200 before local taxes and subsidies. India does not figure in the list of countries where the N9 will be launched.

Source: Etechsolution