How Nokia will come back

[Gaffney]

Windows Phone

So this week we learned that Windows Phone sold 5.4 million units in Q2 2012. From Launch to Q4 2011 there had been 8.4 million Windows Phone sales so the entire market has grew by 64% in just one quarter.

So we can safely say that WP7 probably has around or more than 10 million active devices and studies show that a lot of them like it. This is good for re-sales, obviously the bigger and happier the OS userbase is, the more likely they will buy some of your future hardware.

Nokia

They have been struggling as their Symbian division continues to shrink. I'm not talking about devices like the N8, I'm talking about their pay as you go phones. This is what brought Nokia success. But in the past three years in the west this market has nose dived, even when Apple and Android were getting high smartphone sales. More people were still buying standard pay as you go phones with number pads on the front. The last company to get out of the 'cheap-phone' market is Blackberry, they had the best hardware in that market and was on the borderline between cheap and smart. They are now focusing on the smartphone market with BBOS10.

Nokia weren't late to get into the smartphone market, their first proper smartphone was the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic which sold 8 million devices in the year 2009. It's other successor to it was also released in 2009 the N97 and the N900. The N97 sold roughly 5 million devices before the release of the Nokia N8. It was released in late 2010, it was only a year since the N97 and a year and a half since the 5800 but in this time the smartphone market exploded. By the time the N8 was released worldwide in October it was to late. By January 2011 the Galaxy S had sold 10 million handsets, the Desire and Desire HD sold over 10 million handsets and Apple had sold roughly 60 million. By May 2011 the N8 was basically dead in terms of sales Although it was a big improvement from the previous devices which had bad reviews, the rest of the market shot ahead and had a bright future.

Present

From the recent sale figures we can see that the Lumia series is still alive in terms of sales, surpassing the sales of the N8 and getting close to the sales of the HTC Desire phones. But as we know from the N97, N900 and 5800 sales aren't everything, your customers also need to enjoy the phone to bring them back. The flagship Nokia products between 2009-2011 had bad reviews in comparison to the rest of the market. So eventually Nokia has a flagship smartphone division that has consistent sales and good reviews.

There are reports that Nokia is making bigger losses every quarter and the smartphone sales are going down. Many of these smartphones are the slightly more expensive pay as you go phones, not the flagship products to compete with the likes of the iPhone. The company is still transitioning to Windows Phone.

When we compare the current situation to Samsung, iPhone and HTC. Nokia is on the same path and it's almost certain that WP8 will be the #3 operating system in 2013. Android went from 3% marketshare to 13.2% in Q1 and Q2 selling 15 million devices. 5.4 million is almost three times smaller and the market is bigger now but they had 10 handsets selling at that time. Currently Nokia is only selling 3 devices, there are other Windows Phone devices but they haven't got much attention recently. But I'm predicting that Windows Phone will see a big jump with Windows Phone 8 as what Android seen with their second big version, Eclair and Froyo.

They have the four important factors. Good sales, good reviews, big userbase and the resources to push the platform forward. Also there is a gap in the market, 80% of Android devices are running 2.3 or below. The iPhone won't see any major software changes and Android 4.2/5.0 won't be out until mid 2013. So between now and Q2 2013 everyone will be looking at what WP8 has to offer and Nokia is the main WP8 player.

[Tom]

You know you're hungry when you read 'So this week' as 'So this leek'.

@OP, Is this article written by yourself?

[subcld]

i really hope so

in Finland wp overtakes symbian

[George P Global Moderator]

WP is growing in markets, in some it's more than others but there's positive growth going on, it's just slower than the rest of the market.

[Gaffney]

You know you're hungry when you read 'So this week' as 'So this leek'.

@OP, Is this article written by yourself?

Yes, not my best I got half way through and didn't feel like it was going well but wrote the other half because I didn't want to just throw it away.

[Josh_LosAltosHills]

a different phone that doesn't look like an updated lumina might be a good start.

[Orange Battery]

Android and a Nokia, the dream.

[Melfster]

Android and a Nokia, the dream.

I hope Android doesn't come to Nokia. I am still not impressed with Android. I hope Windows phone/Nokia gets to 10% market share next year. I really want more competition.

[George P Global Moderator]

It'll only be a dream. I'm sure Nokia seems how HTC is tanking right now and is glad they didn't pick Android.

[Growled Member]

I honestly don't think Nokia will come back. Maybe with different leadership they might have a chance but with Elop......no chance.

[siah1214]

Android and a Nokia, the dream.

Because Android is working out FREAKING FANTASTIC for every OEM not named Samsung.

[Raa]

Because Android is working out FREAKING FANTASTIC for every OEM not named Samsung.

Yes, it certainly did for HTC the last few years.

[George P Global Moderator]

Yes, it certainly did for HTC the last few years.

"Did" being the keyword in that statement, and it was only 2011 really, all of those gains are now being wiped out in 2012. So I suppose you'd call that a short lived dream, right?

[still1]

Because Android is working out FREAKING FANTASTIC for every OEM not named Samsung.

well, then how many wp7 phones are HTC selling??? FREAKING FANTASTIC!!!! if HTC was to sell only wp then they would be bankrupt by now.

HTC had dropped sales only for last 2 quarter but they still make money out of Android.

btw, Nokia is the second biggest phone seller and they are still losing money. so No dont see nokia coming up anytime soon.

[Mr. Gibs]

well, then how many wp7 phones are HTC selling??? FREAKING FANTASTIC!!!! if HTC was to sell only wp then they would be bankrupt by now.

HTC had dropped sales only for last 2 quarter but they still make money out of Android.

That's because the HTC WP7 devices suffer from the same problems the Android ones too.

Made of cheap ****ty materials and very very short shelf life. The Titan is probably the only good WP7 device they made and then 2-3 months later they killed it and replaced it with the Titan 2. The difference between the 2? One has LTE and a 16mp camera, the other has 3G and an 8mp one. The HD7 (once HTC's premier device line, the HD series) was made of super crap plastic, had the cheapest screen on the market and a god awful camera.

[Shane Nokes]

Actually the HTC Arrive was a pretty killer WP7 device. I would still be using it today if I hadn't of switched to AT&T. I will agree that some of their more recent phones regardless of the OS have been bad, but that one is pretty nice.

[George P Global Moderator]

What difference does it matter if HTC makes a WP device in all of this? The fact is their early success with Android inflated their head and ego and now it's all crashing down because of Android as well. The 2 new phones running WP HTC released half a year ago don't come into play, they don't advertise them on their own, hell if anything because of Nokias deal with AT&T the Titan II gets some free advertising on the back of the Lumia 900 in the AT&T shops.

No, HTC is screwing itself over by trying to be like Samsung and failing. The One X flopped, it's time the android fans wake up and realize that their OS of choice isn't the answer to everything in mobile. There's a sharp nose dive in marketshare once you get passed the little HTC still has as the 2nd biggest Android handset maker, the rest are bottom feeding and it's a joke.

[R1pper]

HTC is horrible at making sense with their devices.

if HTC ceo looking for a good and wining advice, here it is:

only make 4 devices, 2 for android, and 2 for WP.

devices should be aimed for: middle\high users. both devices would be high quality build. part of unique serial line. and top notch support.

upgrade those devices every 15 months.

and that's it.

[still1]

That's because the HTC WP7 devices suffer from the same problems the Android ones too.

Made of cheap ****ty materials and very very short shelf life. The Titan is probably the only good WP7 device they made and then 2-3 months later they killed it and replaced it with the Titan 2. The difference between the 2? One has LTE and a 16mp camera, the other has 3G and an 8mp one. The HD7 (once HTC's premier device line, the HD series) was made of super crap plastic, had the cheapest screen on the market and a god awful camera.

and people should buy it right?? Not a lot are buying HTC wp hence my statement in reply to Android making money for HTC.

people say that HTC is loosing revenue on Android but failed to realize that HTC is making no money at all from wp.

[Shane Nokes]

and people should buy it right?? Not a lot are buying HTC wp hence my statement in reply to Android making money for HTC.

people say that HTC is loosing revenue on Android but failed to realize that HTC is making no money at all from wp.

They'd be making even less if they weren't making any WP devices since a device sold is money made. :p

[George P Global Moderator]

Someone's trying really hard to justify things it seems. It's more like Android "was" making money for HTC, unless tanking profits somehow means something else that I missed. Last time Android made HTC money was 3Q of 2011.

[still1]

^^someone trying hard to prove otherwise...I dont have to try hard... Anyone with common sense can check HTC revenue and understand but some dont. last time i checked Android is still making Profit for HTC but revenue has only declined since 3Q 2011. There is a difference.. HTC is not in loss even now. check last Q's revenue from HTC.

[remixedcat]

Nokia can come back as the numbar one androyd hardeware device. yey.

[George P Global Moderator]

Someone doesn't seem to be able to read financial reports. What do you think happens to profits when revenues head lower? Revenue and proits are tied together. HTCs profits have also went down, profit plunged 58 percent year on year in Q2 alone. Again, that's profit going down. The only silver lining is that they're not in the red "yet", but this isn't the first quarter profit has taken a hit. They posted a massive 70% profit hit in Q1 as well.

This doesn't seem to be changing, the One X flopped, just admit it, now they're going to see another drop in revenue AND profits for Q3 2012, this whole year looks like it's going to be lost. They're selling less and less phones each quarter while Samsung walks away with the market. HTC is looking like another RIM, RIM isn't "losing" money yet either, but are you saying they're doing ok as well? Hardly, anyone you ask will tell you RIM is heading for the deep end. But hey, we're not losing money yet, so we're doing fine! /s

[majortom1981]

Nokia wants big sales ? make a nokia pureview with windows phone 8. I would sell my iphone 4s for it. The more I think about it I see that I mainly use my smartphone for taking pictures and texting my wife. Give me windows phone and their pureview tech and I will buy the phone.