Nokia Tube: should shareholders be worried?
Filed under: Cell Phone Information, Cell Phones | By: Daniel
Posted on: April 8, 2008 | 4 Comments
Following on from Mark’s post earlier today about the Nokia Tube, a cellphone/handheld computer that’s aiming its targets at the Apple iPhone. We had a comment early today on PR that raises an interesting question about Apple’s rule over the high-end phone market.
The reason Apple could rule this market is because the future of the so-called phone is more of a handheld computer/do everything device.
Here is what Arn said:
It’s a hand-held computer that just so happens to have voice capability market, and without a unified approach to the OS and application development, Nokia and the other manufacturers are fragmenting their market share into all these “specialist” phones that only appeal to small niches. They are nullifying the only advantage they have, size.
So they own a huge share of a commodity market. Ask Dell how that’s working out. What good is it if they can’t parlay a leadership position in the current handset market into a large share of this new handheld computer market.
Do you agree and what’s your view of the Apple iPhone and the Nokia Tube taking its market share?
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It is early days.
Apple has done well in markets before but never dominated long term. This is a new market, the product will be turned into a commodity and Apple will have to find something else that suits their high margin business model.
Apple seems to be exhibiting a continued domination of the online music service and portable music devices. They attacking on all fronts: software, hardware, music, movie rentals, cell phones, web-storage, photo-shareing, etc.
It is time people recognized that Steve Jobs has shifted the paradigm by recognizing the masses fatigue of the over-commoditization of technology. Jobs did something quite simple, he started thinking about the user. Until the competition recognizes this, Apple will continue to prosper.
The great thing about the handset business is how fast it moves forward and how companies need to consistently innovate new technologies and business models in order to grow and prosper. Case in point: Motorola and how it replied too heavily on a single product line and a static business model.
It may still be early days for iPhone-like handheld computers but Nokia has already conceded product leadership to Apple, who is in a great position to dictate the evolutionary path of the industry through consistent ‘one-step-ahead’ product and concept innovations. Nokia is right in choosing software and services as its new battlefront as growth in emerging markets slowly dries up (while increasingly outsourcing manufacturing to Foxconn and others). However, how well and how quickly they can execute this strategy remains to be seen, given their relatively poor track record in marketing software and services, e.g. NGage.
Instead of choosing between Nokia and Apple, it is perhaps more reasonable to predict a transfer of influence from European wireless developers to American Internet and computer vendors who already hold a significant presence in online services and software. As to commoditization, Asian manufacturers (specifically Korean and Taiwanese) will simply build on leading designs and implement mass-market renditions of the same innovation. The days of European wireless leadership are running to an end.
“The days of European wireless leadership are running to an end.”
This doesn’t reconcile with Nokia’s continued growth in global market share.
Apple makes boutique products, it is not possible for them to dominate anything more than a niche.
Amazon is already catching up to iTunes and they have only just started.
Not that Nokia will be successful with their software and services.
If anything Samsung is in the ascendancy but it is years away from overtaking Nokia.