Opinions - Nokia – a lesson in corporate denial

[HEXUS]

Hubris, arrogance and complacency have led Nokia to where it is today, but it’s not too late.

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[amdavies]

In late 2005/early 2006 Nokia released the N770 which they dubbed an "internet tablet." This caused problems with potential customers as it wasn't actually a phone, despite coming from the then largest mobile phone company in the world. It was also given a very Nokia phone-like name and this would have added to the confusion.
It was clearly a technology demo that someone at Nokia wanted to get into the hands of consumers to get their feedback on. However, Nokia never really clearly defined what they expected from their "internet tablet" line. It was positioned as a mini computer running on ARM hardware with a custom OS based on Linux that relied on a community to pick up a lot of the slack.
The models gained improvements in hardware and software eventually culminating in the N900 which someone at Nokia had decided finally deserved to actually be what the line should have been at the beginning, a mobile phone.

To me, the whole N770 line had an air of a fringe group of people at Nokia trying something different and getting little actual support. Sure, the hardware people were happy to run off a few thousand units to sell but there wasn't really the drive from the sales and marketing to go out and sell it, probably because they didn't know how to.
Looking back, I'm reminded greatly by what Commodore did to the Amiga when I think of Nokia's relationship with the N770 and its successors. There was an air of a product trying to succeed despite the best attempts of its owner who didn't actually have a clue what they were doing with the device. The external developers, like the Amiga community, did a great deal of the work that was necessary and still the line never really managed to gain the support it probably should have done from the parent company.

Nokia only ever seemed to want to stick with what it knew and that unwillingness to deviate from the safe was ultimately what caused its downfall.

[crossy]

Elop insisted in the All Things D interview that he wants the likes of Samsung and HTC to remain because this is a platform, not a handset war now, and their presence will encourage developers, etc to contribute.

It looks like he wants their input, but not their competition, i.e. to have his cake and eat it. The other WP7 OEMs are all fully committed to Android and you have to wonder if they're inclined or even capable of putting as much effort into another platform. I now believe they will continue on the platform for the foreseeable future, but in a half-arsed way and very much as second class citizens in comparison to Nokia

I'm left wondering if MS's game plan is that Samsung and HTC will be assigned the low-end presence for WP7 - the "$100 handset" that ScottB referred to in an earlier piece - with Nokia taking the more profitable lines. MS cannot rely just on Nokia, else WP7 will be consigned to being a niche product, the same way WebOS is.

I'm also going to be interested to see what the selling point will be for the WP7 phones - Apple pushes ease of use; Google sells on "openness"; Blackberry on security; and Palm on integration. Whatever it is, the article's 100% correct - Nokia can no longer afford to be half-hearted - they must generate a stable, fast, good looking phone with an impressive feature set for a reasonable price. Otherwise, as has been said elsewhere, we're going to be talking about them in the past tense.

To me, the whole N770 line had an air of a fringe group of people at Nokia trying something different and getting little actual support. Sure, the hardware people were happy to run off a few thousand units to sell but there wasn't really the drive from the sales and marketing to go out and sell it, probably because they didn't know how to. ... Nokia only ever seemed to want to stick with what it knew and that unwillingness to deviate from the safe was ultimately what caused its downfall.

+1 on that - I've still got my N770, and it's actually a pretty good device. I just wish I could get an modern OS to run on it. That said, the later 800 series devices made a lot more sense to me.

[amdavies]

I bought an N800 almost as soon as it came out and I also picked up an N810 a few months back from ebay. Great devices, little ARM computers that could've been so much more if they'd had even 10% of the support Apple or Google have shown.

WP7 is apparently being marketed as an addendum to your life, rather than the supposed life-centric aspect of the competitors. Whether people want a not-quite-so-smart phone or iPhone/Android with stabilizers was debatable to begin with and the sales figures (which MS won't actually officially release) don't appear to be too glowing.

[Brewster0101]

At the end of the day do we even need Nokia in the market of mobile devices any more?

With the rise of HTC and Apple, I think we can all live without Nokia now. For a company that is sinking, you'd think the merge with Microsoft would have brought hope, but planning to release devices 12 months after this merge incorporating both parties offerings is just plan simple slow and rubbish - cementing that Microsoft and Nokia just aren't interested in taking the current market seriously.

Why hasn't WM7 been ported to the likes of the E7 quickly. With all the software expertise of Microsoft, you know this is possible but both companies are still being complacent.

[tickedon]

Why hasn't WM7 been ported to the likes of the E7 quickly. With all the software expertise of Microsoft, you know this is possible but both companies are still being complacent.

The E7 isn't powerful enough. It may have the headline features with the nice camera etc... but the beauty of Symbian was that it didn't demand super fast SoCs and processors to run well - hence a 624mhz processor in the E7 versus 1Ghz in all the WP7 phones.

WP7 also has a defined hardware platform to standardise development - so Nokia need to build a phone from the approved chips, get it tested, certified across the world (by regulators and mobile networks) and then release. While also learning how to work with a brand new platform (given all their engineers will know Symbian but not WP7).

I'd love Nokia to come out with a phone quicker, but, equally I can appreciate why they need to take a bit longer. Equally, they also should take longer to ensure the first devices are great and worth talking about - if they are a complete flop, it'll probably kill Nokia.

[pp05]

It will be interesting what exclusivity allows Nokia on the hardware side that isn't available to HTC and co.

I'm also going to be interested to see what the selling point will be for the WP7 phones - Apple pushes ease of use; Google sells on "openness"; Blackberry on security; and Palm on integration.

+1 on that - I've still got my N770, and it's actually a pretty good device. I just wish I could get an modern OS to run on it. That said, the later 800 series devices made a lot more sense to me.

Nokia do 'great battery life'. It is their biggest draw and nowhere more important is it than in smartphones today. It is the no1 gripe with most heavy & general users.

I genuinely think if Nokia can deliver 3 days battery life on WP7 they will already have something worth boasting about.

[TheAnimus]

Why hasn't WM7 been ported to the likes of the E7 quickly. With all the software expertise of Microsoft, you know this is possible but both companies are still being complacent.

I'd love to you how one knows this is possible?

I was thinking it took time to order the snapdragon components in bulk then all the change of tooling, let alone the design prototype and enhancement stages....

But hey you know it should be possible! Same way meegoo wasn't just a sick joke.

[pp05]

Elder Murtazin tweeted

In one words - W7, W8 will be the first Nokia WP7 phones W7 like HTC Mozart, W8 - N8 variant (chipset TBD)