Nokia

Nokia has teamed up with Polar Mobile Inc, a Canadian Mobile developer, to produce more than 300 media applications for Nokia smartphones within one year time frame. The Apps will be launch on Nokia’s Symbian smartphones, the upcoming N9 and Nokia’s Windows Mobiles for more than 300 top tier global media brands including Wired UK, Kompas, Advertising Age, Globe and Mail, Shanghai Daily and 7DAYS.

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Nokia is planning to launch its Windows Phone 7 handsets through China Mobile (China’s largest mobile phone carrier). China Mobile accounts for two-third of the country’s total mobile phone user base i.e. over 600 million users.  This looks like a desperate move from the struggling handset maker to support his falling sales and hold off against fierce competition from Android devices and iPhone in China. It is expected that the initial launch will take place later this year and mass shipments will happen in 2012.

Nokia is struggling to hold its position as the top selling handset manufacturer in China with growing sales of Android and Apple’s iPhone devices. According to the financial report for the second quarter, Nokia is experiencing a downward trend in its sales. Nokia’s sales have fallen by 55% in china and 32% globally from the previous quarter. Competition and pricing tactics from the rivals have played a vital role in the downward trend. Further the distributors are also sitting on higher inventory levels for Nokia products, resulting in fewer new purchases.

Nokia is expecting to consolidate its position with the launch of smartphones running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system. C.K. Lu, an analyst with research firm Gartner said:

Nokia’s strategy is to use Windows Phone to position its smartphones as higher-end devices. But if you want the mass market, you have to drive down the price. I think this Windows Phone 7 will help them, but I don’t think it will have a big effect.

According to Lu, Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 devices are estimated to cost around $300, with main emphasis on the high-end market. However, Android handsets have already reached the low-end market and cost 1,000 yuan (US$157). With Android devices already available in just half the price and Google planning to directly place itself into the handset business with Motorola Mobility, Nokia’s plans to capture the smartphone market looks to be doomed. Only time can tell, lets wait and see.

IDC released a fascinating forecast for mobile platform marketshares in 2011 and 2015.

IDC Forecasts Worldwide Smartphone Market to Grow by Nearly 50% in 2011

Producing this sort of forecast is frought with danger. Five years (technically less than that) is a long time in the tech world. For example, there wasn’t any iOS (Apple) market five years ago. Today IDC is forecasting this then unknown platform will have 15.7% marketshare (3rd behind Android and Symbian). I placed IDC’s data in an column chart for easier interpretation.

Some of IDC’s forecasts are not surprising:

- Android will continue to dominate the mobile market with 45% of market share in 2015
- Symbian will disappear with a 0.2% share (effectively zero)
- iOS (iPhone) will be flat going from a 15.7% marketshare in 2011 to 15.3% in 2015.

There are, however, a pair of surprises:

- BlackBerry will dip only slightly from 14.9% to 13.7%. My feeling is that unless RIM can turn things around, their marketshare will be significantly lower than it is today
- Windows Phone (or whatever it is called in 2015) will rise from 5.5% marketshare in 2011 to 28% in 2015. This will place it in a distant but strong second place in the market behind Android. Despite my personal fondness for Windows Phone (the HTC HD7 is my primary phone), I find this difficult to believe.

Harry Fairhead discussed the email that Nokia VP Purnima Kochikar sent to developers and concluded what many of us have believed since the Nokia/Microsoft announcement: Nokia’s support of Symbian in their phones will fade away over some indeterminate period of time.

Nokia confirms that Symbian phones will just fade away

Harry notes that Purnima Kochikar said that there are Symbian based products in the pipeline for 2011 and 2012. This is the same time period that Nokia plans to roll out its Windows Phone devices. Will Symbian based phone completely exit from Nokia’s product line after the Windows Phone smartphones become available? That certainly seems to be the case.

Mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android phones that access a corporate Exchange Server using Exchange ActiveSync are already subject to policy controls from Exchange Server. Its administrator can, for example, require a PIN, enforce the PIN type used or perform a remote wipe without requiring permission from even a personal phone.

Exchange Server Policy Settings & Windows Phone 7, iPhone, Android Smartphones

ZDNet reports that Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2012 will be positioned to provide even greater control and, based on the mention of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, virtual applications to a variety of mobile platforms Windows Phone, Symbian, iOS, and Android. Conspicuously absent from the list is RIM’s BlackBerry OS.

Microsoft readies tool for managing iPads, iPhones and Android devices

After reading reports that Nokia’s Windows Phone would not appear for another two years, I wrote this a few weeks ago:

Nokia Windows Phone in 2013? That is Just Too Late

Earlier Nokia CEO Stephen Elop had been quoted as saying that: Nokia’s probable release period [of a Nokia Windows Phone] is 2012 though he would prefer to see a 2011 release.

Reuters (UK) reported today that:

Elop says work begun on first Windows Nokia Phones

Today’s Reuters article returns to the nearer future release dates.

Nokia’s chairman has said Windows-based Nokia phones will be on sale from 2012, though Elop has said he aims to produce a Windows phone by the end of this year.

On the other hand, Reuters also reports that the deal between Nokia and Microsoft is still not finalized. So, when will we see a Nokia Windows Phone product? Late 2011? 2012? 2013?

All of these dates are still too late. Both Nokia and Microsoft need something to effectively compete with the iPhone (and the presumed upcoming iPhone 5) and Android phones. While the first (current) generation of Windows Phone devices are good, they are not great. They lack features that people now expect such as a front facing camera for video conferencing and mobile hotspot tethering. Windows Phone also lacks key apps such as Evernote, Dropbox and Google Voice.

If they want to stay in the game, Microsoft and Nokia need to produce a Windows Phone super-phone before the start of the back-to-school buying season or, at latest, before the 2011 holiday buying season.

Soon after Nokia and Microsoft announced their Windows Phone partnersip, we began to hear rumblings of when the first result of their work together would be available. Initial speculation indicated the first product might be seen at the end of the calendar year.

Nokia Windows Phone 2011 Q4 Not Surprising But Does Make it Difficult for Microsoft to Compete

This was not welcome news as a someone who reguarly uses a Windows Phone and wants the platform to survive. It is not welcome news for Microsoft or Nokia either. Both companies need to get some mobile traction in the face of the tremendous success of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. And, they need it right now. Unfortunately, it looks like the end of year speculation was far too optimistic. Look at what Kevin C. Tofel (GigaOm) and Mary-Jo Foley (ZDNet) are saying:

Nokia’s Lengthy Transition to Windows Phone Full of Risks (GigaOm)

Nokia: Transition to Windows Phone to take about two years (ZDNet)

The first generation of Windows Phone devices are actually quite good. Two models that stand out in my mind are the HTC HD7 and Samsung Focus. However, all the Windows Phone devices are lacking features that are common now in other smartphones:

1. Front facing camera
2. Tethering other devices (using USB, Bluetooth or WiFi)
3. Multitasking
4. App organization
5. Recently used app navigation
6. Improved camera and advanced camera features (stock & trade for Nokia)

Microsoft can address some of these issues on their own. But, they really need a breakout product to gain traction for Windows Phone. Motorola’s original Droid served that function for a then languishing Android platform (late 2009). Nokia could have played the role of Motorola for Windows Phone. But, a 2012 or even 2013 release is just too late.

There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the deal Microsoft and Nokia made for Nokia to abandon their Symbian mobile platform in favor of Windows Phone. Bloomberg Businessweek has attached a dollar figure to this deal based on two unnamed sources.

Microsoft Is Said to Pay Nokia More Than $1 Billion in Deal

It is an interesting deal with money flowing in both directions.

- Microsoft will pay Nokia $1 billion to offset marketing and development
- Microsoft’s payment to Nokia also gets it access to Nokia patent portfolio
- Nokia will pay Microsoft a currently undisclosed fee for each Windows Phone device it sells

Microsoft’s upfront payment to Nokia ensures that Microsoft does everything possible to make Nokia’s Windows Phone products a success since its payback will come in the form or large numbers of Nokia Windows Phone device sales.

Here are the four things I’d like to see in Nokia’s Windows Phone products:

1. The usual awesome camera subsystem with serious enhancements to Microsoft’s camera interface
2. Both rear and front facing cameras. A 3D dual lense rear camera would be much appreciated
3. A Bluetooth profile for Bluetooth keyboards
4. Mobile Hotspot WiFi tethering

Nokia’s Windows Phone devices are, at best, many months away and, perhaps, as far as a year or more from availability. However, this doesn’t mean Nokia is going into a quiet period between now and the release of their first Windows Phone devices. They are in the midst of what appears to be a series of potential customer polls. The first poll asked a general question of what people are looking forward to.

Poll results: looking forward – WP7 evolution

The item that received the largest proportion of votes was a unique UI (22.12%). I found this interesting because Windows Phone’s Metro UI is already unique among smartphone interface. Nokia’s fanbase, however, apparently wants something unique to Nokia. I hope this does not lead to the kind interface fragmentation we saw in Windows Mobile 6.x and Android OS 2.x.

The next biggest vote getter was Xbox games. I assume this means actual game play beyond the score keeping and messaging now available in Windows Phone 7.

The surprise vote getter (in my opinion) was higher screen resolution at number 6 (7.39%). Windows Phone 7 devices already have good resolution (though not iPhone 4 Retina Display resolution). The HTC HD7, for example, provides 480×800 pixels on a 4.3-inch display.

Nokia’s second Windows Phone poll is in progress now. It asks:

Poll: higher-res screens, let’s be clear

If you were among those eagerly anticipating a Windows Phone with some Nokia software tweaks and amazing Carl Zeiss lenses to take clear crisp photos, you are going to have to wait for a while.

Nokia to delay Microsoft Windows Phone beyond October (Guardian.co.uk)

The main factor is the Windows Phone Mango update. This news should not be a surprise, however. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has said since the announcement that Nokia’s probable release period is 2012 though he would prefer to see a 2011 release. So, a calendar Q4 Nokia Windows Phone release time frame.

While Nokia’s Windows Phone device release time frame is not a surprise, it does make Microsoft’s attempt to battle RIM and HP (webOS) for third place in the smartphone market very difficult.