According to an insider of Chinese electronics retailer Dazhong, Nokia (NOK) has agreed to sign an exclusive cooperation agreement with the appliances retailer to make Dazhong the first seller of Nokia's new handsets in Beijing in September 2008.
The cooperation with Nokia is Dazhong's new attempt in its internal sales system.
Mao Xiaojun, general manager of Dazhong, says that the major content for the cooperation is that Dazhong will become the first seller for Nokia's new music handset products in September 2008, but details about the types of these handsets are not available at present. Because of the exclusiveness of this cooperation, these new handsets will not be allowed to be sold in other channels until two to three weeks later.
A person in charge of the sales of Nokia in northern China areas told local media that the reason for Nokia to choose Dazhong instead of traditional mobile phone stores to be the first marketplace to launch its new products is because of Dazhong's advantageous network resources and popularity in Beijing. Dazhong has 60 stores in Beijing, of which 40 are located within the Fourth Ring and the popularity of its stores will effectively promote the sales of mobile phones.