Nokia Launches N96 To Counter Iphones - Aug 20, 2008

Ahead of the launch of Apple''s inconic brand iPhone here, world''s largest mobile phone maker Nokia on Tuesday unveiled its new converged device N96 under its ''N Series'' stable. Apple and Nokia have not yet announced the prices of their models, but according to industry sources, both phones having 3G enabled features, which allow high quality net surfing, video and music download etc, would be priced in the same range.

The price of iPhones would also have an Indian component as it would be offered by the service providers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar. While iPhone is likely to cost about Rs 31,000 for the 8 GB version, N96, which is expected to hit the Indian market by September, is likely to be priced above Rs 30,000. Though Nokia is quiet confident that the company''s sales would not be impacted by the launch of the iPhone in the country, experts tracking the sector feels Nokia is hurrying the launch of N96 in India to counter the hype associated with the iPhone. With a large 2.8-inch screen display, the phone packs 16 GB of internal memory, expandable up to 24GB. Though the phone would be available from September, consumers can pre-book the phone from across 2,000 Nokia outlets across the country from August 20.

Nokia Revamps Biz Strategy

Goa: In a bid to sustain its leadership position in the Indian mobile handset market, Nokia is shifting gears by restructuring its business strategy with a focus on offering services and solutions.

Under the new organisation, Nokia will have three main units. Until now, Nokia had its operations under mobile phones, enterprises and multimedia businesses. These three segments have been collapsed into a single devices unit, responsible for creating the best device portfolio for the marketplace. In addition, Nokia has introduced two new business divisions - Services & Software, reflecting Nokia’s strategic emphasis on growing its offering of consumer Internet services and enterprise solutions and software and markets, responsible for management of Nokia’s supply chains, sales channels and marketing activities.

Ovi initiative

As part of Nokia’s new focus on the services segment, the company is in talks with Indian operators to offer a range of Internet applications on its recently launched platform - Ovi. Nokia plans to offer services based on music, gaming, navigation and entertainment.

D. Shivakumar, Vice-President & Managing Director, Nokia India, told Business Line, “Ovi is an important initiative for Nokia in its efforts to bring the power of communication to the consumer. Ovi, meaning ‘door’ in Finnish, enables consumers to easily access their existing social network, communities and content, as well as acts as a gateway to Nokia services. We should be in a position to roll this out in India in phases this year."

As part of Ovi, Nokia will bring its Music Store and N-Gage that will enable mobile users to buy music and games from a range of artists and publishers, including exclusive content available only through Nokia. The company is in talks with all major Indian music labels for this initiative.

Also under the Ovi umbrella is Nokia Maps, a navigation service that offers maps, city guides and more directly to compatible mobile devices. The company plans to charge a fee from users for the service though India-specific plans are still being worked out on this front.

Pricing issues

However, the key issue would be the price point at which the services will be offered to consumers. “In India everything is free. TV is free and so is Internet. So we have to find a way to monetise the services being offered by Ovi. It could be a mix of free and paid content,” said Vineet Taneja, Country Head, Go To Market, Nokia India.

Another issue will be the revenue share arrangement between Nokia and the operators.

Nokia ''07 Sales Jump On Strong India Performance

Propelled by strong sales in emerging economies, including India, world''s largest mobile phone maker Nokia recorded a whopping sales worth 51,058 million euros in 2007. Sales in India shot up 36 per cent to 3,684 million euros as compared to 2,713 million euros in 2006. The country''s contribution to the total sales of the company is next only to China, which accounted for 5,898 million euros. Further, sales in India posted an 82 per cent jump as compared to 2,022 million euros in 2005. In Asia-Pacific, we continued to benefit from our brand, broad product portfolio and extensive distribution system. Moreover, the Finnish firm posted a 24.2 per cent jump in sales last year at 51,058 million euros as against 41,121 million euros in 2006. Meanwhile, in terms of sales, India is ahead of the United States and two European markets - Germany and Great Britain. During the same period, Germany and Great Britain had sales worth 2,641 million euros and 2,574 million euros, respectively.