Nokia price cuts to trigger smartphone price war

For example, Nokia has cut the price of its cheapest smartphone, the 5230 to where it is now available at a wholesale price of just €120, according to Reuters.

'This latest round of price adjustments sees Nokia taking its low-cost Symbian devices into new territory,' mobile phone analyst Ben Wood, at CCS Insight.

Meanwhile both the world's no. 2 and no.3 handset vendors, Samsung and LG Electronics have publicly announced plans to ramp up their relatively small market shares in the smartphone market, while companies, like Dell, Huawei and Garmin are entering the market or improving their product ranges.

'The smartphone market will become ultra-competitive in 2010,' said Strategy Analytics researcher, Neil Mawston. 'The smartphone wars will be good news for consumers, but the fierce competition will inevitably place downward pressure on vendors' pricing and margins,' he said.