Nokia just came out with its version of an app store ala iPhone and Blackberry. Even though Nokia is taking the right steps as far as the latest trends for hand held smart phones are going, however the question that begs to be asked is : will these steps help Nokia in gaining any grounds against other players like Apple and RIM ?
Nokia : losing market share and how ovi will not help it
According to a report published by reuters.com, Nokia has already lost a lot of market share to Apple and RIM over the past years.
Nokia’s share of the market for smartphones — handsets with computer-like features like e-mail — fell to 38.9 percent in the quarter from 51.4 percent a year before, Canalys said. However, Apple’s market share jumped to 17.3 percent and RIM’s to 15.2 percent in the quarter.
Being an Apple customer myself and having downloaded their applications to the iPhone, I doubt if I will ever give up Apple now and switch to Nokia unless of course Nokia presents a significant cost benefit to me [even in that case, I doubt if I will go through the hassle, like most people, to change my cell phone]. Apple and RIM have created ’stickyness’ with their existing client base and if Nokia expects to use OVI as a means to break this bond, it is mistaken.
Nokia should focus on ensuring its current base doesnt get eroded
Currently, Nokia should focus on making sure that it does not lose any of its existing users. They need to focus on customer retention as opposed to customer acquisition. Nokia should make things like excellent customer service and customer loyalty programs the corner stone of their strategy, at least for the short run. At the same time, they have to come up with innovation in cell phones that will create the same buzz as the iPhone did when it was released.
Nokia’s long term strategy should be ….
…. constant R&D and guerilla marketing to win over the undecided. Apple did the same with its MAC line of computers and won over a lot of microsoft sympathizers over to their side [including myself].
It is obvious that Nokia does possess the technology to come out with cell phones that will create the same impact that iPhone did on its release. For example, Nokia has a concept wrist phone that might be the next step in pervasive computing.
Nokia might have been left behind in the current installment of the cell phone wars but if they stop copying everything their competition is doing and start focussing on defining new standards in cell phone technologies, they will still have a strong chance of regaining their former numero uno spot.
