How realistic was Nokia’s aim to achieve the equivalent high volume output of smart-phone handsets as it presently does of basic devices? Can it do so and sustain a differentiated market position?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

? How much will demand for smart-phone handsets grow and what kinds of smart-phone will
consumers want?
? Might smart-phones effectively replace basic devices altogether?
? Can a strategy of differentiation continue to provide Nokia with success in mobile devices, on what
basis (ref. Figure 7.2 frameworks) and at what level of output?
? How can Nokia be more innovative and bring new consumer products to market more quickly
? Should Nokia sustain its profitability by managing medium term exit from consumer devices in
favour of further developing its network business?
Nokia’s difficulty is, ironically, prompted in large measure, by its past successes. Its huge sales volume
of basic devices has stimulated aggressive competitive responses, very notably from Samsung and LG of
Korea and HTC of China. Its influence over Symbian may have been unpopular, prompting the search
for and receptivity to (better) software alternatives, including Microsoft, Apple and Google (Android).
Technology convergence linking computing power, software and the internet to mobile phones has
created opportunities for enterprises not traditionally with telephone interests (those name, also Sony,
Apple in hardware, Microsoft, Google, etc.). With a strong Chinese device manufacturing capacity,
Nokia can continue to be a dominant competitor in basic devices, but is this an attractive future market?
But clearly, its hold on the more advanced device market is much weaker and a strategy of broadly-
based differentiation is probably not tenable because it seems not to have adequate NPD capabilities in
this domain. So it may need to refocus more selectively, but on what basis?