Has Nokia lost the smartphone battle?

Nokia’s smartphone operating system Symbian has failed to impress consumers who have chosen Apple and Google’s Android system as market leader. This has contributed towards a 9% drop in sales for 2011, including a 21% drop in sales (or a €950 million operating loss) in the last quarter of 2011.

A report by the Boston Consultancy Group (the group behind the popular Boston Consultancy Group Matrix) predicts that the economy generated by the internet will be double its present size by 2016. The report states that the main driver behind the increase will be the use of smartphones. Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) asserts that by 2016 eighty percent of global internet usage will be through smartphones.

If correct, BCG’s predictions render Nokia’s need to conquer the smartphone market even more critical. In October 2011 Nokia launched Lumia handsets which use Microsoft Windows software (the replacement for Symbian). The Lumia range includes models capable of running the latest super fast broadband 4G. Nokia have also reduced handset prices to compete with cheaper smartphones such as Android.

Only time will tell whether a change in software and a reduction in prices will lure consumers back to Nokia. Through the touch screen iPhone, Apple was the first to successfully capitalise on the opportunity presented by the merging of computers and mobile phones. Nokia’s predicament highlights the importance of responding to the changing needs and demands of consumers. As P.Tailor of ww.learnmarketing.net asserts 'Marketing is not about providing products or services it is essentially about providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customer (P.Tailor 7/00)'