We’ve already heard predictions that Nokia bound for doom in 2013 but today there’s even worse news for the Finnish phone manufacturer, and the news comes from the top. Today Nokia has announced that its second-quarter earnings fell a whopping 66% in the face of the recession.
Despite a poorly planned N97 and the continued explosion of the iPhone user base, the loss report is still a shock. A 66% earnings loss is more than just recession-grade economics, though the global economy certainly amplified things. Nokia also reported a sales decline of some 25% and a shipment decline of 15%. The company also recanted their goal to gain market share this year.
Nokia’s CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said his company “put in a solid performance in what was another tough quarter.” I’m not sure how tumbling earnings look “solid,” even in a bad market. And how long can they continue to make that same, solid performance? As mentioned above, some analysts are saying Apple, of all companies, will catch Nokia as early as 2011 with a 33% market share. By 2013 these same market research types believe Nokia’s share will have dropped to half their current, from 40% to a meager 20%.
I doubt things are quite that bad, but they’re getting close. Make no mistake, Nokia is bleeding – slowly for now – and if they don’t revise their product strategy and start delivering decent phones for every market (yes that includes the US) it’s just a matter of time. Meanwhile, nothing can sate Apple’s hunger, and when the iPhone finally breaks from AT&T exclusivity, the stateside smartphone market is going to be a mess.
What could help Nokia win back some much-needed market share? Do they need a touchscreen, or just a smarter-than-iPhone smartphone with a decent app catalog? Sound off in the comments.
I have been a fan of Nokia for years now, and I still have N95 8gb nokia’s phone in my pocket. The problem is that the technology is changing, and Iphone has made a huge impact on cellphones. For Nokia to compete and even beat the Iphone they will have to go with a touch screen, and forget about that key-board it’s a thing of a past. An ideal phone would have to come really close to the Iphone’s touch-screen, N97 touch-screen sucks it’s not as easy to use and it’s not as responsive as the Iphone. The phone would also have to have a one time payment Navigation app., At least 8 mega pixel photo camera, no key-board, only touch screen so that it would be as thin as possible. So to put everything in order to make an Ideal phone that everybody goes nuts about:
Thin phone
Touch-screen only
At least 8mpx camera
Mimic touch controls to Iphone
Don’t price it too cheap
Make the back of the phone from st. steel
Navigation must be 1time payment or free
Memory must be larger than Iphone’s
Battery must be good for at least 2 days, removable.
Expandable memory
Mp3 must have something like Itunes
Nokia is not dead yet, but things are not looking good.
There are some interesting numbers since the first iPhone was released showing some correlation between Apple’s success and Nokia’s fall…
Did the iPhone kill Nokia?
Nokia actually give a free for life (for certain model incl N97) Ovi Maps navigation software and worldwide maps after the company acquiring the Navtec.
It is far more better than iPhone where the user need to purchase one.
Here’s the link
http://maps.nokia.com/services-and-apps/ovi-maps/ovi-maps-main