There was a time when Nokia was the undisputed leader in the mobile phone industry. Then came the iPhone. Apple’s philosophy of bringing multi-touch tech to smartphones and making the user experience simpler then ever changed everything, literally. Then came Android, a fairly powerful open-source smartphone OS with Google’s backing.With the rising popularity of the iPhone that ‘just works’ and the more powerful Android platform, Nokia’s Symbian based devices just couldn’t compete anymore. Nokia has always been excellent in terms of hardware design, antenna performance and battery life. Nokia’s global reach and it’s location-based assets are pretty strong as well. All of this has kept Nokia from losing it’s no. 1 position but the fact that Nokia’s market share is on a constant fall can’t be denied. Symbian has been updated thrice. The name Symbian has been dropped in favor of ‘Nokia Belle’ now but Nokia knows that if it wants to be a major contender in the smartphone industry, it needs to change the way it operates.
Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia, said just over a year ago, “Nokia’s been facing challenging and very dynamic times right now.”
PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT
Microsoft introduced its next generation smartphone platform a while back – Windows Phone 7. It’s a pretty fresh take on smartphone user experience design & functionality. Windows Phone is nothing like anything else on the market. It’s faster, simpler, better. It’s built around the ideas such as ‘Putting People First’, ‘Glance and Go’ information and making stuff easier, faster & more organized. Nokia and Microsoft announced a strategic alliance which said that Windows Phone is and will be Nokia’s primary platform for its smart devices.
ICONIC HARDWARE
After a year, here we are with Nokia’s first Windows Phone device – the Nokia Lumia 800.
Nokia introduced a stunning hardware design approach with the N9 and continued to use it in the Lumia 800 and the upcoming Lumia 900 Windows Phone devices. The Lumia 800 is made from a single block of injection molded polycarbonate shell that looks and feels outstanding. The laminated ClearBlack display and the curved glass add to the feeling of quality. Being an owner of the device myself, I can only say that it feels more ‘premium’ than anything I’ve ever held before. I’d go as far as saying that the Nokia Lumia 800 design is one of the best smartphone designs in history. That’s not an exaggeration. The device feels extremely solid, extremely well-built. The feel of the device is just unmatched. Most importantly, it feels that it was built for Windows Phone. The ClearBlack display, the curved glass, the one piece body really generates the feeling that the hardware and the software were designed by one company. Also, these devices are available in a wide range of beautiful colours as well. These things will make Nokia stand out from the rest of the ‘black or white’ pack.
IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES
Camera’s in Nokia’s smart devices use Carl Zeiss approved optics which is one of the big differentiators for them. Plus, technologies like the upcoming PureView 808 with a whopping 41MP camera are going to create a lot of buzz and attention. I won’t be shocked to see this imaging technology in one of Nokia’s upcoming Windows Phone devices.
PRICE POINTS
Along with the Lumia 800, Nokia also launched the Lumia 710 which has the same internals as the 800 but at a lower price point. Nokia has introduced the upcoming Lumia 900 and Lumia 610 devices as well bringing Windows Phone to a wide variety of price points. Key to the success of any platform/brand.
LOCATION BASED ASSETS & REGIONAL KNOW-HOW
Nokia is the world leader when it comes to location-based services. A huge reason for this is Nokia’s aquisition of Navteq. Nokia has provided value-added apps like Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport accross it’s Windows Phone lineup. Free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation is awesome, isn’t it?
ACCESSORIES
Rather than relying on 3rd party vendors to create accessories for it’s Lumia lineup, Nokia has released awful lot of really slick accessories including speakers, Bluetooth headsets, Wireless receivers, headphones, pretty much all equipped with NFC and in a variety of colours. Nokia’s partnership with Monster should prove to be a good deal as well.
GLOBAL REACH & MARKETING
Nokia’s global reach is one of the reasons it still maintains the position as the world leader. Their strong brand awareness across the globe will help drive Windows Phone to different geographies and market positions. Without great marketing, awesome products fail miserably. To prevent this from happening, Microsoft and Nokia are spending millions of dollars in the marketing segment. Print advertising, TV advertising, preparing sales people in Nokia Stores and Microsoft Stores worldwide are starters. Microsoft’s ‘Smoked by Windows Phone’ and Nokia’s similar ‘Blown Away by Nokia Lumia’ campaigns add to the marketing blitz.
It isn’t a battle of devices anymore, it’s a war of ecosystems.
Nokia introduced it’s Lumia family of products just 4 months ago and it is now the number 1 seller of Windows Phone devices. I think it’s safe to say that Nokia is back!
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