Last week Tuesday, Nokia unveiled the E66 and E71 in a press conference in Johannesburg. Raymond Fritz, Program Manager for Nokia, and at the event, the Head of Go To Market for Eseries, told the media that South Africa will not see the white versions of the E66 or E71.

This results from a discussion between the South African networks and Nokia where the companies conclude that the country’s market is too selective of colours, and it’s rather risky to introduce several colours to this market. Speaking to PhoneReport, Fritz pointed out that networks buy several units to stock, and test the colour variances by implementing few of each, at the stores. If they don’t sell well, they remain passive in the warehouses as dead stock, therefore it is not worth it to try out different colours in case one does not sell well in the South African market.

In my opinion the white colour would be quite attractive to consumers as it remains in that line between business and leisure. I am sure that the networks and Nokia itself went through some research before putting the white version of the devices to rest, and the companies must have some experience in this issue. The only way to get hold of the white devices would be buying from grey stock resellers.