Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) has been losing market share in the mobile phone business to faster and more innovative companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Korea's Samsung Electronics. Although Nokia is still the world's largest mobile phone maker by volume, the company's most recent quarterly results don't speak highly of its efforts as of late.
And, when you start suing competitors, your back must be against a pretty hard wall. What is Nokia going to do? Try to innovate again and manufacture wireless handsets that carrier partners are glad to have on shelves and customers seek to purchase? Sorry, the iPhone already has beaten you -- for a few years now -- to the punch. A potential $1 billion judgment against Apple is proof in the pudding. But if Nokia thinks some of its newer phones can compete with Apple as easy as other competitors, Nokia is dead wrong.
The company owns Symbian, which controls the operating system on the majority of smartphones sold globally. Even though the head of Symbian thinks Apple is "greedy" and Google is possibly "evil," the consumer does not care. The consumer wants devices that are simple to use and connects them to things and people in evolving ways (even with a loss of privacy), and needs something in their hands that looks like it belongs in the year 2009 -- not 2005.
And, Nokia's biggest customers are not wireless companies -- they are consumers and business customers. Apple realized this and exhibited enormous muscles to ensure AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) would allow them to connect with consumer desires without getting blindsided with carrier's misguided wishes -- and look what happened.
Nokia, take note if you want to stop bleeding market share.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-27-2009 @ 11:35AM
Beltway Greg said...
Tell that to Palm's CEO and to Bono.