Is Nokia Finally On The Offensive Now?

Rahul Srinivas, Sep 03, 2009 1755 hrs IST

Better late than never!

At the Nokia World 09 underway in Stuttgart, Nokia seems to be telling the world that it STILL is the world's number one mobile phone manufacturer even though its dominance might have been challenged by relative new comers.
Whenever we say newcomer, the first thing that comes to the mind is undoubtedly, Apple. When Apple introduced the iPhone back in 2007, it was a revolutionary device right from the design to its UI. Two years after its introduction, many devices have tried to be an iPhone killer but none of them really managed to cause any dent into the sales of the iPhone, let alone kill it. However, by 2009 we have a relative flood of new devices that are actually capable of doing things way better than the iPhone and they look good whilst doing it as well, a key iPhone feature! So, we now have the Android with the Sense UI on HTC, Palm with its extremely slick WebOS and Nokia with Series 60 Version 5! What? Series 60?

Well, sadly, that is what most Nokia high-end devices use nowadays. This single "feature", which has been instrumental in Nokia gaining a lion's share of the smartphone market in the early 2000s might just have caused Nokia to lose its share dramatically over the past few quarters. And while analysts were wondering what they were going to do about it, they come with the N97, yet ANOTHER Series S0 handset! Sure, the N97 is a highly capable device, it can do stuff the iPhone can only dream of, but what fails it is the OS, which, no doubt, is good. But whenever you use S60 now, (especially after you use Android or the iPhone OS) you feel that it's no longer up there. Yes, it has the apps, it can multitask, it's got sleeker and tries to more than make up for its old pedigree with it's new looks and transition effects. But it does feel a generation old. So, Nokia was actually left with a very good OS that it can't let go as it has worked so well for them and at the same time, the future of it's devices was at risk as they were still clinging on to an old platform.

Therefore, in 2009, at the Nokia World, they come up with the N900 Internet Tablet, a device that might just change the way you look at a Nokia device from now. The move seems to be a kind of acceptance by the company that it had been slow to react to the advent of the likes of RIM, Apple, Google to what has been traditionally Nokia's home turf. With the N900 and its usage of the Linux based Maemo 5 Operating System, Nokia has taken it's first little step at distancing it from Series 60 (Not Symbian!). With the Open Source Symbian OS still under development, Nokia has to have a buffer OS that is not only capable but also delivers on the UI scheme of things. This is where Maemo seems to have fitted fine. Even thought the N900 is positioned as a tablet PC with phone abilities, it has more or less grabbed the flagship Nokia crown from the N97 already and for a good reason! The Maemo 5 has a nice UI, it can multitask, it is open and can do most things better than the iPhone and for the same reason, Nokia has reasons to believe it has finally got its act together and delivered a really compelling device. Will the N900 and Maemo be able to replicate the success of its earlier S60 platform? What about the upcoming Symbian OS that is separate from the Maemo? Will the Maemo ever come to normal devices? These would be the things we will be on the look out for in the future. With the Ovi Store in place, Nokia already has a platform where it can take on the likes of the Apple App Store. So, even that front seems to have been covered.

Nokia is also hoping to capitalize on its unlimited music service, as evident from its new launches yesterday. The new X series with two new devices, the X6 and the X3, seems to be an extension of Nokia's XpressMusic service and come with Nokia's Comes with Music service that is awaiting a global launch soon. They are not actually in hurry to ditch S60 as evident by the launch of the N97 Mini yesterday. However, the most distinct product to grace a Nokia showroom will undoubtedly be its Booklet 3G, which is Nokia's first attempt at making a PC, a netbook that runs Windows. By doing this, it will be the first pure mobile phone company to venture into PC making. A move that will, no doubt, give it a head start in this field. Apart from all these, the company is also concentrating on becoming more of a service provider and less of a traditional phone maker. This is clear from its Ovi branded initiatives, that range from its Ovi suite of mobile music, maps, games and other services.

Is Nokia really on the verge of a paradigm shift? The company has the potential, the financial clout and even the market share going for it and all it needs to do is to capitalize and it's doing just that right now, better late than never!

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