Nokia

The Fallen Hero

 

My first article starts with something that is very close to my life and has been with me for such a long time. My first mobile phone was a Nokia (Ngage). 

In that time (Early to mid 2000s) Nokia was the market leader in mobile phone industry, making all new stuff. Cameras (Carl-Zeiss), S60, N-series, the business phone, Vertu and what not. That was the time the company was taking huge strides in innovation, advancement and features. I still remember at that time Nokia had released their flagship 6600 which was so ahead of the competition that Nokia sold it for four straight years. It featured all new tech with VGA camera, new S60 software, nice design and a very pocket-able form factor and not forget the huge software developer base. 

That’s exactly when I think Nokia stopped its innovation and started stagnating by releasing the same phone just in a different shell. Its success just stopped after it released the N95 which was another power packed device from its stables. They stopped improving the software platform and that is where it got hit so badly by the other competing companies.

Market Share 2007

Apple had already started selling iPhones in huge number by then and Google had also come up with an exciting new open- source platform called Android. These two, iOS and Android, started eating away the sales of the mobile phone industry. The consumers like me got excited by new interfaces, gesture recognizing, and much powerful platforms. This is where Nokia should have woken up from its slumber, and it didn’t. Add to the fact that Nokia had organizational issues. It couldn’t recover from the setback which resulted in Symbian being shut down. The other platforms it was pursuing were expected to perform but didn’t. Maemo and MeeGo with Intel were so looked forward by the prosumers but alas Nokia decided to shut them down as well. It was without a OS of the future. And it languished.

Market Share 2011

As can be observed from the pie charts. Nokia did lose a lot of market share. The usual sale of mobile phones is in millions, so even losing a percent means a lot of change in the market. This loss also contributed to loss in standards, innovation and a mental setback for the company.

I will not say that Nokia is gone, done for, but only that it gave up all that it had. Its best qualities are that it offers stunning design and finish to its phones which are so much more durable than the others. It has always produced devices with stellar hardware configurations which bests all other devices. People like me appreciate quality in their phones (which HTC & Motorola has been doing lately) that makes us feel that we have a capable device with us.

In my opinion, Nokia could have done much more than just sit back and relax. It could have actively participated with Intel in Maemo or MeeGo which could have been a much better outlook for the company.

Fast forward today and now Nokia has a tie-up with Microsoft for its software platform, Windows phone 7, which in my opinion is a very fresh outlook to the mobile interface. As a company it has huge resources which can be utilized in the positive way. Although it has to catch up to its competitors, it can be said that not much has been lost and the lost sheen can regained again with future planning and some risk taking. I may not ascertain the future of Nokia but this partnership with Microsoft will keep it alive and running though it will lose its market share to the other competitors. Ending on a positive note, I quite like the appeal of the newer generation from Stephen Elop’s (CEO Nokia) stables, can be considered good for daily use phone.

Thank you for your valuable time. Do comment and post your views.

Adios.

HellRa1SeR