14 DAY TRIAL // Good news for Nokia Asha owners in India, as Microsoft has just announced a promotional offer that will allow them to switch to Lumia 435 at a discount.
Microsoft India has just announced the Smart Exchange program for customers who own the Nokia Asha 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 311, 500, 501, 502 and 503.
Those who own one of the smartphones mentioned above will be able to upgrade to Lumia 435 at a discount, depending on which of the devices they provide instead.
That's quite an interesting move from Microsoft, as Nokia Asha smartphones were doing pretty well in some emerging markets. In fact, this might be an indication that Microsoft plans to end the Asha series and completely focus on Lumia smartphones.
For the time being, the Smart Exchange program is only available in India, but if Microsoft expands the promotional offer to other countries, then there's no doubt that the Redmond-based company wants to get rid of any reminiscence of the past, and that includes the Nokia name.
The discounts on Lumia 435 are available until next month
Anyway, let's see how much Nokia Asha owners in India will have to pay to upgrade to a Lumia 435 smartphone. Well, WMPoweruser reports that Asha 500, 501, 502 and 503 will get a Rs 1,500 ($24 / €22) discount when purchasing the Lumia 435.
Owners of Asha 305, 306, 308, 309, 310 and 311 will be getting a smaller Rs 1,000 ($16 / €15) discount if they want to grab the Lumia 435.
It's worth mentioning that Microsoft is selling the Lumia 435 for Rs 5,900 ($94 / €88) outright, so the discounts offered by the company aren't that big.
Another incentive provides customers with Rs 1,250 ($20 / €18.5) cashback of recharges through the Paytm application during the offer period.
Speaking of which, the Smart Exchange program is available for Nokia Asha owners in India until April 15, 2015, so make sure to plan accordingly.