Fosfor posted an incredible look at what has befallen phone manufacturers and why they’re all faltering. Mikael headed over to Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s sites and tried to list all of the models available. Nokia had 44 and S-E had 70. He then points out that there are three iPhones at best and in reality there are only two.
It costs money to manufacture and sell things. While many of the phones on Nokia’s site may be out of production, they still show them to users as if they were available. This is wrong-headed and ridiculous.
The manufacturers will complain that carriers make them offer so many phones. Carrier A wants a cheap phone to sell to grandmas in Latvia while Carrier B wants a fancy phone to sell to the rich in South Africa. Cry me a river. Are we really that neophiliac that every country and every carrier has to have something a little different? Do we really have to bend our desires to what companies that essentially sell the transmission of bits over radio waves want?
I’m reminded of something I heard when I was interning at Bloomberg news back at the turn of the century (2000, actually.) We were in an intern meeting with one of the managing editors and we were supposed to ask questions. One intern, bright and fresh from an Ivy league school, raised his hand and asked what Bloomberg is doing to get terminals to developing nations. The editor said: “If they buy the terminal and pay the monthly fee, we’ll send them one.” There wasn’t a dilution of brand. There wasn’t any expectation that a business that needed a Bloomberg terminal in China was different than a business that needed a terminal in the UK. There is no such thing as a lower-end Bloomberg machine, no Bloomberg Lite.
Brand dilution is what is killing Nokia and what killed Sony Ericsson. S-E had some great phones but they couldn’t escape entropy. Nokia is still high on the hog but their N-series, the phones that should be making them the most money, is roundly dismissed as out of date.
I understand their hands are mostly tied but when carriers squander your business opportunities for frivolous reasons, something needs to change. Noone cares about 44 phones. They care about the one in their pocket. Figure out why its there.
Good artile, but fix your typos
sorry. i was angry.
Yep agreed…too many phones that look or function the same way is killing both companies (that and the darn iPhone).
so true.
phone market should learn from the car market.
look at GMAC and all of the subdivisions/cars/trucks they offered.
Please! Give me a break. A few years ago when Nokia’s stock had it’s last nose dive all the stock analyst were complaining that Nokia didn’t have enough new models. Now of course, they have too many. Nokia sells more smartphones than the other top competitors combined. They have 38% of the market. But the US is not there strong suit. When Apple gets to 38%, let me know.
Botton line is short sellers love to stir up the media if it helps push a stock lower. Is John Biggs shorting Nokia stock?
Obviously an Apple fan boy posting this. Nokia makes phones that are for the most part not locked into U.S.-like contracts and draconian operator control. Choices abound for every need, granted the high-end phones are grossly over-priced. The Nokia site allows you to view all phones, new phones, upcoming phones. I find it very easy to use. Regional sites show phones specific to the region. Very well done, albeit a bit heavy on Flash content. I can find a phone I bought ages ago on the Nokia site easily as well as see what’s new and upcoming.
Nokia, humm. I am in Asia where Nokia is very popular and as well we dont have to sign any contract to get a phone. (What would happen if you had to buy your car from a gas station and agree to buy their gas for two years!) in any event Nokia is going down hill in its second largest market, Asia, why? Two or three reasons, first they are very slow in updating their technology..i.e. the communicator (one of the best devices they ever produced and ahead of its time) no update in two years even though it could be made a very very good smartphone. Next, the build quality is going down (my communicator E90 packed it in after 14 months…Nokia repair shop, in writing, “Can’t be repaired!”) and lastly, lack of innovation in the Symbian platform… I am going Android!
i like your article and nokia phone have good market
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