Way back in February of this year (three months is a long time in the mobile industry and several lifetimes if you’re a Nokia investor) I reviewed that company’s tie-up with Microsoft in an article entitled, “Hello Team Nokia, I’m the New Captain. WE’RE SINKING! TO THE LIFEBOATS EVERYONE!”
My contention, back in those bleak midwinter days, was that embracing a new operating system (specifically, Windows Phone 7) would not help Nokia solve its three biggest problems as recorded by CEO/Captain Elop:
Losing on brand and user experience to Apple at the top of the market.
Losing on price and capability to Android phones in the rest of the smartphone market.
Losing on price to emerging suppliers in the feature phone market.
Three months on, Android is going from strength to strength (I suggested in February that Nokia would have been better off taking Android and then investing heavily in putting a branded, exclusive user experience on top of it), Windows Phone 7’s market share is falling (it’s dropped by almost 50 pecent year on year), and the Nokia freefall continues. The child being eaten by the revolution now is Nokia’s mobile content brand, Ovi.
According to the BBC, the company will be selling music, games, and apps content under the Nokia name from now on. According to Nokia Ovi blog editor Pino Bonetti, who broke the news, the changeover will enable the company to “leverage the high value of the Nokia master brand to better support future plans to deliver disruptive and compelling mobile experiences globally.” In other words, the four-year-old brand did not distinguish itself enough in the marketplace to make supporting its continued existence worthwhile – probably because, as Pocket-Lint editor Stuart Miles has commented, “they [Nokia] created a brand out of something that did not need to be branded.”
So what’s next? The interesting rumor going around is that Nokia is planning to sell off its mobile phone business to Microsoft as well. Pinch of salt taken, one wonders what would be left of Nokia if this happened, and whether this was the plan all along? Trojan horses, and all that. And was the Skype acquisition a precursor to creating a Microsoft power trio focused on delivering the complete mobile experience, from hardware to software to voice?
On my way to work each day I pass the Headquarters of Vertu, Nokia’s top-of-the-line vanity phone range. Ironically, the building itself sits on a roundabout with a sign on it saying, “Sponsor this Roundabout.” As things stand at the moment, Nokia—going round and round like a ship in a whirlpool—hasn’t managed to find one either
Tags: 2011 Trends, Apps, Industry Analysis, Mark Watson, Mobile Apps, Mobile Internet, Mobile Web, Nokia
Hey Mark – you are going to see Nokia make an amazing recovery in 2012 with WP7 – if they actually manage to deliver a phone in time for 2011 holiday season it will make 2012 even better for them. Nokia is a BUY – I’ thinking of picking up that roundabout sponsorship!
Tony
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