To be honest, this is a horrid move by Nokia.

Why develop a new ecosystem for something that quite obviously will not get supported. Here's what I think Nokia should've done; start with a superphone then trim things down.

In fact trim it down back to a smartphone, and trim down the costs and pricing. Doing things like reducing its quality (physical and parts), reducing its specs, and removing some luxury features. Not to go extreme, but just right enough so that still functions “okay” so that people could still purchase software/content from your App Store and make additional profit.

For example;
SoC (1GHz A8, 512MB RAM, 4GB NAND)
Screen (3.3 inch, 640 × 360, LCD, 2-finger Capacitive)
Features (3G, Wifi bgn, microUSB, mic, earpiece-loudspeaker)
Battery (Removable 1,400mAh)
Thickness <14mm
$99 unlocked (with about half as profits)

Now for the OS go with Android 4.0.3 (higher is better, but this would suffice).
Otherwise, go with MeeGo (with full Qt ecosystem).
If Nokia are contractually unable to go with that route, then go with Windows Phone 8 (or higher).

-And one direction they could take is to alter the OS, ie add their own skin.
Just like how many companies do to Android (TizzBird, Kindle Fire, Nook, MIUI, PAC ROM), Nokia should add their own GUI/UX (Swipe UI and icons) to the latest Windows Phone version.
That way the average consumer would welcome it, not knowing it is WP8, as long as its new, fresh, intuitive and has Apps (Windows Phone has about 100,000 at the moment).

May Asha 501 become a hit, so that when people who bought them want to "upgrade", after using the swuipe UI for sometime, they'll switch to Sailfish OS

At $99? I'd give it $50 at best.

This thing runs what is essentially a featurephone OS, and has the same awful-res screen the older Ashas have had (and I'm assuming that their response to touch is just as sluggish).

At $99 you can pick up an Alcatel or ZTE phone with dual-SIM (3.5G+2G courtesy of Mediatek), a microSD slot, 800x480 screen, and Android 4.0.x.

Plus, the app selection on Android would hands down beat the Asha.

There is simply no way Nokia's going to attract anyone to this platform.

What type of processor in nokia asha 501. Cortex A8 1Ghz?

^ Exactly. Hate Android as much as you want, but those propositions are great for consumers and OEMs.

Yes but Android on that lowend means slow as hell! Also Asha is for new markets. You know there IS other countrys than America! Who doesn't have 3G etc...

Speaking of N9, don't U guys hate it when people ask you what phone it is, "Is that a Lumia?" I hate it.....

This is Android on a ~600MHz ARMv6 processor with a SGX530. Skip to 2:20 for a demo of how quick the UI is.


I live in a third-world country with reasonably high poverty rates, and most of those in lower income brackets have switched to low-end Android smartphones, due to the availability of reasonably good hardware at around the price point of US$99 (1/4th minimum wage for the employed)

If you want to do some more digging, a local manufacturer called Cherry Mobile has a phone called the Flare:
1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (not a QSD S4PRO, but it's ARMv7), 512MB RAM, 800x480, WiFi and Bluetooth, GPS, Dual-SIM 3.5G+2G.

For US$99.

I have a very similar android 4.0 zte device which uses a quallcom chipset with armv6 processor, adreno 200 gpu and 512mb of ram and the ui looks quick but when you try browsing and gaming it sucks as hell. when you try to use internet apps or open background processes the phone gets all slow and choppy so this kind of levels the competition. im not saying asha 501 is great but for a smartened feature phone it's sitll something to cosider.

if nokia would just do the right thing and did something with the Asha range..but they had their chance and they blew it big time..when will they release something besides lumia and asha??