Nokia: What we are looking for in services and handsets

Theiant Finnish Company is putting the final touches on their latest handsets and services planned for release at the end of the year, marking the occasion with a demonstration evening in Paris. This was a good opportunity for us to discover their latest smartphones, and learn more about the strategies they are putting into place.

Nokiahas been turning a corner since the summer of 2007, heading more towards mobile applications. This was seen with the birth of the Ovi platform and its three initial pillars: music (Nokia Music Store), mobile games (Nokia N-Gage) and GPS (Nokia Maps), which will soon be joined by content sharing with Files on Ovi.

The Nokia telephones are not just evolved handsets, as they are also becoming supports for a wide range of possibilities with the key to revenue generation being more then just mobile phones.

With more wide spread Mobile Internet offers and the emphasis on handsets that can use it (iPhone in the lead), the carriers seem to have realised the interest in their value add services. While the locking of the network is still common, there is now a real effort to open this and look for applications that are able to capture the attention of subscribers.


The carriers, the keys to the system
The carrier SFR, during the presentation of the Samsung Player Addict smartphone 16GB exclusive edition, also unveiled a range of services called Ma Sfere, destined to exploit this new tendency. For Nokia, the difficulty is in getting their service accepted by the carriers, with a revenue sharing base. The acceptation of this is very progressive and constantly needs attention to realise its value.

Also, Orange is also looking to replace their off-board GPS solution Orange Navigation with a version of Nokia Maps, the GPS navigation application developed by Nokia. This is a real victory for the phone maker, and is the beginning of recognition of the relevance of their model.

On the other side, SFR has instead deployed its own content sharing solution rather then using Nokia’s existing Files on Ovi, which offers similar possibilities. This is the game being played out by the carriers and makers, all trying to keep a decisive advantage with their choices.