Singapore: The jury is still out as to whether Finnish phone giant Nokia — the most popular phone manufacturer — can stave off further global decline amid growing competition and declining share value.
Under extreme financial pressure to perform, rolling out relevant new designs and user-friendly phones couldn't be more critical for embattled Nokia which has reportedly lost more than $24 billion (Dh88 billion) in equity value since February.
But the company surprised many Tuesday in Singapore when it unveiled a new smartphone, the Nokia N9, giving edgy financial markets a sneak peak of what might be expected later this year with new Nokia devices equipped with Windows Phone under partnership with Microsoft.
After months of heavy shelling by unhappy shareholders and cryptic financial analysts, Nokia fired a salvo across the bow of its detractors yesterday when CEO Stephen Elop stepped on to the stage to help unveil the new Nokia N9 smartphone, the only device by Nokia to operate under the MeeGo system.
Key elements
"Elements of this design will be seen in future Nokia products," Elop pledged, noting that the focus of the N9 when under development was to "uncover new innovation in the marketplace".
Word of the new phone quickly spread, spawning a crush of curious onlookers around the Nokia floor display at CommunicAsia technology conference. Visitors were eager to see what the company calls the world's first pure touch mobile phone not to have any buttons on its face — to open the phone, users double tap the screen.
Siang Liang, 30, of Singapore was in the fray at the Nokia display of cyan, magenta and black N9s on display for the first time in the world.
"I'm really impressed, it feels good, the design is attractive and the finish is nice," Liang told Gulf News. "It's quite fast and quite responsive and I really like the large screen."
Liang said the N9 felt different than other Nokia phones given its 3.9-inch Gorilla glass screen that is reportedly more adverse to scratches and wear-and-tear.
Marko Ahtisaari, senior vice-president of design at Nokia, said the N9 brings several new innovative developments to the smartphone market including a polycarbonate body similar to sport helmets, a Swype screen and several basic home views to keep users grounded in the experience.
Way to the future
"The N9 shows the way to the future," he said, adding it is a "design for a better way to use a phone".
The polycarbonate housing material gives good antenna reception, Ahtisaari said, to prevent signal loss as experienced by some iPhone4 owners who reported reception problems.
The new N9, he said, was designed primarily to bring new ergonomic advantages to users who want to easily use their apps, obtain notifications and switch back and forth between activities. Thanks to a new Swype mode backed up by a curved, slightly elevated screen, N9 users won't have to hit a home button to return to a previous activity, he said, and similar to social networking pages, the N9 has an activities page to view everything at one glance.
Another new innovation is the N9's ability to show all open applications by shrinking them and displaying them together — the most recently used application is always located in the upper left corner, he said.
The N9 uses near field technology (NFC) that also brings an end to frustrating settings problems, he said. Users can simply tap the N9 phone on a nearby accessory such as wireless headphones or Nokia Play 360 speakers and they automatically sync for instant use.
The innovation of the new N9, and more importantly, the public perception of the phone as moving users forward is important for Nokia amid reports that the struggling firm will likely be surpassed in smartphone sales by Samsung Electronics this quarter and Apple in the next.
Confident
"We are confident in our Windows Phone release this year," Elop said yesterday, noting the new Windows Phone models will be launched by the fourth quarter of this year. The N9 phone will be launched commercially this year, although no date has been set for its release in the UAE and the Middle East.
The device release fits in well with a new four-point strategy announced on February 11 in partnership with Microsoft to adopt the new Windows Phone platform, reach out to "the next billion" users in emerging markets, compile a new team and structure as well as invest in new disruptive technologies.
In February, Elop acknowledged, "Nokia is at a critical juncture where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward."
To get Nokia back on track, Elop said he was "accelerating that change through a new path aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership".
Symbian platform set to stay
Nokia isn't putting all of its eggs in one basket.
In addition to its smartphone push, Nokia will remain committed to its Symbian platform as it targets emerging countries in Asia with lower-priced phones that people can afford, more than 500 delegates in Singapore heard on Tuesday.
Effective April 1, Nokia split its operations into two key areas; smart devices and, mobile phones, the latter of which is expected to drive "the next billion" strategy by the company.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told those assembled at his company's Nokia Connection 2011 gathering that 90 per cent of the world can't afford a smartphone.
Elop said Nokia aims to "help connect the unconnected."
Mary McDowell, executive vice president of the mobile phone unit at Nokia, launched three new affordable phones in Singapore yesterday, ranging from the C2-02 and C2-03 to the C2-06.
Price points
Price points for the new trio are slightly above $100 each.
The launch gives Nokia three new dual SIM phones in the marketplace, she said.
"For mobile technology to be relevant, it needs to be affordable, easy to use and have access to local content," Elop said.
"Because the next billion is becoming the now billion, we're delivering faster than ever," McDowell said.
Nokia Maps
All of the new phones use Nokia Maps that are preinstalled on the phone and can be viewed in offline mode.
The phones also come with Nokia Browser which touts data compression to keep data costs low.
Nokia, meanwhile, said it will begin the shipment of Nokia phones with the Symbian Anna update while current Nokia phone users can download the updates. Contrary to predictions that Symbian would no longer be used in years to come, the firm said yesterday in a statement that "over the next 12 months, Nokia plans to bring up to 10 new Symbian-based smartphones to market."
Specifications
- 3.9 WVGA (854x480) AMOLED display with curved Gorilla glass
- OS: MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan
- Memory: 1024 RAM, 16GB/64GB storage
- Camera: 8 Megapixel, second camera for video calls
- Price: N/A
