Nokia Corp. plans to unveil six new mobile devices including its first tablet at an October event in Abu Dhabi, representing its first major product launch since announcing a deal to sell its devices unit to Microsoft Corp., according to people familiar with the plan.
The product blitz to be unveiled in Abu Dhabi Oct. 22, will include several Lumia smart devices that run Microsoft’s Windows phone platform, and lower-end devices based on Nokia’s S40 software, these people said. Nokia’s first tablet device will also debut, and will run Windows 8 software.
Reuters
The product push comes as the once-dominant Finnish handset maker scrambles for momentum ahead of an ownership change expected to take place in the first quarter.
The long-awaited Nokia tablet, code-named “Sirius,” will enter a crowded segment that has evolved over several years. Apple Inc. is expected to launch another edition of its iPad tablet in the fourth quarter, and Microsoft recently revamped its Surface tablet.
A Nokia spokesman declined to comment on the Finnish company’s product plans. The company had planned to launch its new products in September, but pushed the debut back by a month following the Microsoft announcement.
The product push comes as the once-dominant Finnish handset maker scrambles for momentum ahead of an ownership change expected to take place in the first quarter. Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s handset business is intended to develop more cohesion between cellphone software and hardware design.
Nokia’s problems in its cellphone business run deeper than a lack of coordination and lack of breadth in its range of phones.
Nokia’s Lumia phones have run the Windows platform exclusively since 2011, and it has launched a number of new editions, but a tight marketing budget and a lack of significant demand for the software has seen Nokia’s market share continue to fall.
In a recent interview, Nokia’s marketing chief Tuula Rytila said the short term goal is to point buyers to the silver lining the Microsoft deal is supposed to represent.
“Things are better now than they were before,” Ms. Rytila said, referring to the Microsoft deal. “We are part of a big company that is very profitable, a company that has cash and is future proof.”
Other executives have sent the same message through blog posts and posts on Twitter. Nokia has positioned the coming Microsoft era as “the next chapter.”
Nokia estimates that about 1.3 billion people now use its devices. But it is unclear if Microsoft ownership will motivate existing buyers and those thinking about moving from other rivals, to try the next round of Lumia devices.
Asta Ekman, a 54-year-old chemist in Helsinki, has been a faithful Nokia user since 1999 and uses an employer-provided Lumia smartphone and her personal Nokia E65.
She said the sale of Nokia’s phone business makes it less likely she will buy a Lumia in the future. “If things had remained the same, I would have stuck with them,” Ms. Ekman said.
Nokia and Microsoft, however, argue that better funded and coordinated advertising efforts will help fend off the rivals that have been stealing one-time Nokia buyers in recent years.
“Our competitors are pouring money into their marketing,” Ms. Rytila said, adding that she expects the budget to grow under the new owner. “I think every marketer would like a larger marketing budget, so if this is an opportunity for me to say that I need more money I will definitely say so.”
Last year, Nokia spent $ 21 million marketing its phones in the U.S., according to research firm Kantar Media, while Samsung Electronics Co. spent $ 401 million and Apple spent $ 333 million over the same period.
—John D. Stoll, and Juhana Rossi in Helsinki contributed to this article.
Write to Sven Grundberg at sven.grundberg@dowjones.com
No comments:
Post a Comment