Nokia will adopt Windows Mobile as its main smartphone platform in a wide-ranging agreement with Microsoft. Today two companies announced plans for a broad strategic partnership that combines the respective strengths of our companies and builds a new global mobile ecosystem. Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader. Nokia and Microsoft will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.
What Microsoft has on mobile sector now is Windows Phone 7. It is the successor to Windows Mobile platform. Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 on February 15, 2010, at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona. Windows Phone 7 is a new platform, and older Windows Mobile applications do not run on it. Windows Phone 7 features a version of Internet Explorer Mobile with a rendering engine that is “halfway between IE7 and IE8“. Silverlight (.NET code with XAM) is the application development platform for Windows Phone 7, but also Microsoft XNA is supported. Development tools are Visual Studio ja Expression Blend. Windows Phone 7 so far hasn’t been a major hit with the application-development community.
I would have liked to see something released on Meego instead of this, but I must admit that tt was somewhat expected that this could happen when you you get a new CEO from Microsoft. Now it seems that the stock price has fallen considerably this day: European stock markets turned lower Friday, with mobile-phone giant Nokia Corp. shedding nearly 10% after it agreed to a partnership with Microsoft. Let’s see what happens in the near future and how Microsoft stock reacts to this.
It takes quite a bit of time until the first phones using this new OS will come to market and how markets react to this. Vic Gundotra from Google already commented “Two turkeys do not make an Eagle” before the announcement. I think this was a better deal for Microsoft than for Nokia. Let’s see how well those turkeys are baked on the next Thanksgiving Day.
The new Nokia strategy: MeeGo will open-source mobile operating system project for future devices and Nokia’s Symbian will continue working on behalf of the platform. Symbian and MeeGo not dead, still shipping this year says another source.
But what will be the future of Qt? Just few months ago Nokia announced focus on Qt framework and support for HTML5. Qt applications do not work on Windows Phone and press release does not mention anything on Qt applications on Windows phones.
Letter to Developers about Today’s News tells that Qt will continue to be the development framework for Symbian and Nokia will use Symbian for further devices, and also on first MeeGo-related open source device (planned to ship later this year). There seems to be no Qt for Windows Phone development: In other words, Qt will not be adapted for Windows Phone 7 APIs. Microsoft would provide tools for application developers for Nokia Windows Phones. Developers already think this is a Microsoft sabotage on developers.
Was this Microsoft deal a good move or not is hard to say yet. I fear the worst. Some time ago Nokia’s outgoing head of smartphones Anssi Vanjoki Using Android like ‘peeing in your pants for warmth in winter’: Temporary relief is followed by an even worse predicament. Would using Windows Phone be like getting something else on your pants for temporary warmth?
This is a very dark day for Finnish software industry: Nokia to cut thousands of jobs in Finland. Pretty many developers in Finland will be pretty pissed off on all this…
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Worries mount as Nokia burns through cash
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-nokia-cash-idUSBRE84H0BD20120518
LONDON/HELSINKI, May 18 (IFR/Reuters) – Nokia Oyj is tearing through its cash reserves at an unsustainable rate, raising what some analysts say are serious questions about the struggling Finnish phone maker’s ability to stabilize its finances in the months ahead.
Over the past five quarters, the onetime darling of mobile telecoms has eroded its cash pile by 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion) – a rate that would wipe out its entire 4.9 billion euros reserves in a couple years.
“In our opinion, the company’s ability to repay even its shorter-term 2014 bond could be an issue,” said Societe General credit analyst Juliano Torii.
“I would not rule out the possibility of Nokia being downgraded further,” Utterback said. “The company is in a negative spiral that will be hard to reverse.”
“There are chances for Nokia to shape up and recover, but it’s going to be tough,” one corporate banker said.
If Nokia fails to improve its fortunes, some bankers say Microsoft could become a white knight. After all, not only is Lumia’s software based on that of Microsoft, it also happens to be Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop’s former employer.
Microsoft is already paying Nokia $1 billion a year to use its software on Lumia smartphones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analysts: Nokia Could be Out of Cash in Just a Year
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=24723
Pressure is on to offer big results from Windows Phone
Running out of cash — particularly when two of the top three credit agencies have rated its credit at “junk” status — could be a death sentence, necessitating a sale or merger.
And to make matters worse, Nokia has a €1.25B ($1.59B USD) bond obligation maturing in two years (2014). Many believe that there’s substantial risk of a default.
Some fear Nokia’s promising Lumia lineup of Windows Phones may be too little, too late. Indeed, after announcing a parternship with Microsoft in February 2011, it took the firm nine months — until November — to begin to release product. Nokia didn’t bring a product to the U.S. until January — eleven months — and did not bring a flagship model (the Lumia 800 or 900) to the U.S. until April’s launch of the Lumia 900 on AT&T.
In other words, Nokia took a year and two months to release a competitive handset in the U.S.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Näitä lukuja Nokialta odotetaan Q2:lla ja Q3:lla
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/naita+lukuja+nokialta+odotetaan+q2lla+ja+q3lla/a809473?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-21052012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
MediaTek lands 2.5G handset solution orders from Nokia, say sources
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20120521PD204.html?mod=2
MediaTek reportedly has landed orders for 2.5G handset solutions from Nokia with shipments to begin in the third quarter of 2012, according to industry sources. MediaTek declined to comment.
With a revised goal of shipping 75 million 3G solutions in 2012, mostly to first-tier handset makers in China, MediaTek is expected to post strong revenue growth in the second half of the year, the sources noted.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Starting today you need Windows Phone 7.5 to use Marketplace
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2012/05/22/starting-today-you-need-windows-phone-7-5-to-use-marketplace.aspx
Most phones are already running Windows Phone 7.5, which was released last fall, and so most of you won’t notice anything different about how the Marketplace works. However, if your phone has an earlier version of our software installed, you’ll soon start seeing an error message when you try to download a new app, or update one you already own. (I say “soon” because it will take a day or two for the changes we made today to take effect.)
Tomi Engdahl says:
100 Most Valuable Brands: Apple Tops Again; Nokia Disappears
http://allthingsd.com/20120522/100-most-valuable-brands-apple-tops-again-nokia-disappears/
WPP’s Millward Brown published its annual BrandZ study, ranking the world’s leading brands, which are increasingly technology companies. According to the research house, four of the top five global brands and seven of the Top 10 are tech firms.
At $183 billion, Apple is the world’s most valuable brand
IBM ranked second with $116 billion in value. Google, which ranked second last year, this year swapped places with IBM
Microsoft claimed fifth place, ranking below McDonalds — the only non-tech company in the top five.
The biggest year-over-year gain also went to a tech company: Facebook, which rose from No. 35 in 2011 to No. 19 in 2012.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia axes Skype client on Lumia 610, claims user experience wasn’t ‘up to par’
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/22/nokia-skype-lumia-610/
It took nearly a full month, but Nokia has finally been convinced that Skype is indeed incompatible with low-memory Windows Phones. In reaching out to a spokesperson, the company confirmed to us that it has decided to yank the official client from the Marketplace on the Lumia 610. The device — which utilizes a scant 256MB of RAM — originally allowed the service to be downloaded despite Skype’s claims that 512MB was the minimum amount of memory required for the app to function properly.
Users who managed to snag the app before it disappeared can still enjoy (or hate, depending on your experience) it on their Lumia 610
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Windows Phone 8 Coming To Current Generation Windows Phones
http://wmpoweruser.com/report-windows-phone-8-coming-to-current-generation-windows-phones/
The latest news regarding Windows Phone 8 from a trusted source according to MML is that current generation Windows Phone devices will have Windows Phone 8 update.
Waggener Edstrom, Microsoft’s PR agency have told the above statement which makes us to truly believe that Windows Phone 8 subset may come to current generation Windows Phone devices after all. Of course, hardware specific features such as display resolution, NFC, Bit-locker encryption, etc, won’t make to current-gen phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dissertation examined the reorganization:
Kallasvuo lost Nokia’s focus in 2008
Swedish School of Economics is checking next week a doctoral dissertation, which will open a little Nokia’s current problems of the origin.
Seppo Laukkanen (worked in management positions for a long time in Nokia) ends up in her dissertation, “Making Sense of Ambidextrity” lead to the conclusion that in 2008 a big change in the organization lost the previous tight coupling of research and strategy.
Nokia revolutionized the organization in early 2008 with a model consisting of three divisions: devices, markets and the Services & Software.
In 2008, the organization after the change Nokia’s strategy and innovation were no longer as closely linked to each other. Laukkanen not say this directly, but it claimed to be. Perhaps this is the reason why Nokia has been a major difficulty for renewal, and to respond to challenge Apple’s and Google’s smartphone market.
Dissertation contains examples descriptions of product development processes of selected equipment and services.
Making Sense of Ambidextrity
https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/33402/243_978-952-232-166-4.pdf?sequence=1
Source:
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/talous/kallasvuo_hukkasi_nokian_fokuksen_2008
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia TV comes today
Nokia TV-named application works only for Nokia’s Windows Mobile phones, Nokia, and it is trying to separate Lumia-phone with other Windows-based device manufacturers in mass.
- The application should be first in the world to Finland, because there are good online TV services and high speed access, said Nokia’s Entertainment Services, Director of Jyrki Rosenberg on Thursday at the press conference.
- We want to Finland to learn more through the pilot, but I do not want to say anything about other countries’ launches
This application can be used to view Yle Arena, MTV3 and Channel Four Katsomo Screen TV services. In addition, the range of music channel The Voice and the sports channel URHOtv’s online TV services.
The service requires a 3G or wireless network connection. Programs can not be saved to your phone for copyright reasons.
- Nokia does not have an application’s business interest other than to make easy for consumers of services, Rosenberg said.
Nokia partners YLE and MTV3 expect an application from the download rates through the moving tens of thousands of copies in the first year.
TV companies try to show all their content, but especially the Hollywood variety series are missing.
Source:
http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2012/05/25/nokia-tv-tulee-tanaan/201230128/7
Tomi Engdahl says:
Survey: 8.8% of game developers are making games for Windows Phone 7
http://wmpoweruser.com/survey-8-8-of-game-developers-are-making-games-for-windows-phone-7/
The Game Developer magazine has released the results of its first-ever mobile and social developer technology survey in its May 2012 issue.
The survey as expected found mobile developers overwhelmingly supported iPhone and Android, but also that Windows Phone was the 3rd platform of choice, with 8.8% of developers working on Windows Phone 7 apps, despite the OS only having a market share of around 2% worldwide.
The survey also showed the Unity Engine was the most popular with developers, with more than 50% using this game engine. Hopefully with Windows Phone 8 Microsoft can look at supporting this middleware to make the porting and concurrent development of games on Windows Phone significantly easier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Angry Birds’, Tango, and ‘PES 2012′ refuse to install on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/28/3047773/windows-phone-tango-256mb-ram-app-games-restrictions
Microsoft first unveiled its low-cost 256MB of RAM Windows Phone devices at Mobile World Congress earlier this year. Although Microsoft warned parts of Windows Phone would be restricted on handsets with 256MB of RAM, the company said it expected 95 percent of apps would still install and run just fine.
Nokia’s Lumia 610 has started to ship in Europe and a Windows Phone fan site in Spain has discovered that a number of popular apps refuse to install on the handset.
Microsoft may claim that only five percent of apps will have difficulties on 256MB of RAM devices, but if these are popular ones, including Angry Birds and Skype, then the company could find it difficult to market the advantages of such low-cost phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Nokia effect – Finland is Windows Phone’s strongest market by far
http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/05/28/nokia-effect-finland-windows-phone-strongest-market/
In Finland, almost 8% of mobile web browsing is done on Windows Phone devices.
That makes Finland the number one country for Windows Phone. In contrast, Microsoft’s smartphone OS only has 0.53% of the worldwide mobile web traffic.
IDC puts the combined Windows Phone and Windows Mobile market share for Q1 2012 at 2.2%.
That Windows Phone was used to browse the web more in Finland than in other countries doesn’t come as a surprise. But just how much more of a share of web browsing it commands in Finland is really impressive, in a way.
Tomi Engdahl says:
6.4 percent of most popular Windows Phone apps are incompatible with Tango devices
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/29/3050839/windows-phones-tango-app-compatibility
We’ve already seen several instances where low-memory Windows Phone devices like the Lumia 610, which has just 256MB of RAM, simply can’t run certain high-profile apps. But just how bad is the problem?
AAWP crunched the numbers and found that of the 86,292 apps currently available in the Windows Phone Marketplace, only 1.6 percent aren’t compatible with 256MB phones
Of the top 10,000 downloads in the UK, 4.6 percent are incompatible with low-memory devices, while 6.4 percent of the top 1,000 apps won’t work.
Unsurprisingly, a large number of the incompatible apps are games
Windows Phone Tango owners should at least be able to play some Angry Birds on their phone soon thanks to a specially optimized version of the game.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyzing the world’s 11 biggest handset makers in Q1 2012
http://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/special-reports/analyzing-worlds-11-biggest-handset-makers-q1-2012
The No. 2 position is new territory for Nokia, as its handset shipments dropped 24% YoY and 27% sequentially. Nokia is not just losing share to competitors in the smartphone space where its shipments declined to 11.9 million from 19.6 in Q4 2011; Nokia’s portfolio low end of devices also saw shipments decrease by 23 million from the previous quarter.
The problem is not just a regional collapse as every region except North America saw a precipitous drop in shipments. To put it in perspective, Nokia’s single quarter shipment decline is equal to ZTE and LG combined shipments this quarter.
Two more quarters of this and Nokia will have to struggle to remain in the top ten.
ABI Research believes it is time to put Nokia on death watch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside Nokia’s Struggle Against Apple’s iPhone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640104577436443119293310.html
Nokia Corp.’s new top-of-the-line smartphone sells for $200 less than Apple Inc.’s cheapest iPhone 4S. But under the hood, Nokia actually pays more for the phone’s components, according to an analysis—underscoring the challenges for the Finnish cellphone maker as it struggles to compete in the cutthroat mobile marketplace.
The components of the Nokia Lumia 900, which sells for $450 without a phone contract, uses $209 worth of parts, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. Meanwhile, the comparable 16-gigabyte iPhone 4S, sold for $649 without a phone contract, is made of components that cost $190, iSuppli says.
The findings indicate Apple makes nearly twice as much on iPhone sales as Nokia does on the Lumia 900, excluding costs like manufacturing, marketing and distribution.
In part, the cost difference is accounted for by the Lumia’s larger screen and more advanced wireless chips—the Nokia phone can run on fourth-generation LTE networks, while the iPhone can’t.
For Nokia, low margins could be a big problem.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft promises a ‘sneak peek’ at the future of Windows Phone on June 20th
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/4/3063346/microsoft-promises-sneak-peek-future-windows-phone-june-20th
Microsoft previously announced its Windows Phone Developer Summit early last month, but the company didn’t reveal exactly what it was planning to show. We received an updated invitation today that hints Windows Phone 8 might be on the agenda. “A sneak peek of the future of Windows Phone” is promised in the latest invite for the June 20th event.
Tomi says:
IDC: Windows Phone will rise alongside the Apple
Research firm IDC predicts the global mobile phone market to grow by just over four percent.
Phone number of deliveries would be increased this year to 1.8 billion (last year 1.7 billion)
Basic phones deliveries would be reduced ten per cent
Deliveries of smartphones on the other hand would increase to 686 million units (39 per cent).
Android operating system would remain number one
IDC predicts strong growth in Nokia’s smartphones using Windows Phonelle, which would rise to five-year period, from five percent to about 19 per cent.
Apple’s iPhone would maintain its market share
Source:
http://www.digitoday.fi/mobiili/2012/06/06/idc-windows-phone-nousee-applen-rinnalle/201230955/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone To Top iOS Market Share By 2016, IDC Says
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/06/06/windows-phone-to-top-ios-market-share-by-2016-idc-says/
Now here’s a bold prediction.
By the end of 2016, according to International Data Corp., Microsoft‘s Windows Phone 7 will inch ahead of Apple‘s iOS to become the world’s #2 mobile operating system. Google‘s Android is expected to remain the world’s best-selling mobile OS, but with share shrinking steadily between then and now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft ‘mulled Nokia buyout, ran away screaming’
Why Windows 8 giant will wait for Finns to bleed out some more first
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/11/microsoft_nokia_merger/
January came the rumour, sparked by blogger Eldar Murtazin, that Microsoft would snap up Nokia’s smartphone division and brand while the low-margin volume feature phones would be flogged off to private equity or a Chinese buyer. This wasn’t just premature, it was fictional – but the rumour gained legs because, it ‘sounded’ probable: should there be a sale, Microsoft would be a likely buyer, and a buyer for the smartphone wouldn’t want the volume feature phone business.
The reason for Microsoft not already owning Nokia is twofold: Nokia didn’t want to sell, and Microsoft didn’t want to buy. Both are entirely rational positions to hold. Nokia still has time and cash with which to mount a fightback. Microsoft has time to generate an “ecosystem”, the clunky technology buzzword for what the rest of the world calls “markets”.
Microsoft’s determination to create a popular mobile platform for phones and tablets is in no doubt, we can see it in the Charge of the Metro Brigade (as we call it). This is the apparently suicidal insistence on melding Metro into Windows 8, even at the cost of skipping an enterprise Windows upgrade cycle: Redmond is prepared to forego billions in revenue to establish Metro as a platform.
For years, Microsoft sustained huge losses on its Xbox adventure, before finally turning a profit. But it regarded Xbox as a generous financier – leaving the division to make its own way.
Yet the logic remains: it’s cheaper for Microsoft to wait until this valuable asset becomes cheaper.
Such acquisition rumours must be infuriating for Nokia, which is still in its first cycle of products based on Windows. The Lumias are all essentially the same in different packaging.
Nokia’s comeback can’t be fairly judged until we’re into the second cycle of products later this year based on Tango – and perhaps even the third, based on Apollo. Elop has already halved the time it takes for Nokia to make a smartphone, simply by shifting to Windows.
The nightmare scenario for Nokia is that the one I described here back in January: that there really isn’t room, in reality, for a “third ecosystem”. In this scenario there’s Apple and Android, leaving RIM and Nokia fighting for crumbs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linus Torvalds: “I think that Nokia was sunk by itself”
Torvalds’s life is in fact a free Linux operating system. Linux is the basis for example, while Google ‘s Android operating system development.
Smartphone manufacturers are using Android for free in cheap phones, which have replaced the Nokia phones sales top positions. Success of Linux-based phones has destroyed Nokia’s good result.
“I think that was sunk by Nokia itself,” Torvalds chuckles
Linus Torvalds spends the majority of waking hours sitting in a fairly large house in the barren home office, where there is almost nothing more than a couple of desks full of computers and a chair.
Linux takes time, which is the fourth Torvalds child. It is, he has raised and taken care of for 21 years. Torvalds created the software itself, but now it develops around a thousand other programmers on a voluntary basis and free of charge. Torvalds eventually decide what changes, corrections and additions may be made to Linux.
Source:
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/linus+torvalds+tessa+quotluulen+etta+nokia+upotti+itse+itsensaquot/a815602?s=u&wtm=tivi-12062012
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia confirms PureView is coming to future Lumia Windows Phones
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/12/3080334/nokia-lumia-pureview-windows-phones-chris-webber
Nokia’s PureView technology, first revealed in the company’s Symbian 808 PureView handset, will arrive on future Lumia Windows Phones.
Speaking to HowardForums, Webber doesn’t say when PureView Lumia devices will arrive, but he reveals Nokia is working with Microsoft “to make sure their platform supports the broad set of things we want to do with PureView imaging.” Nokia is “absolutely committed” to bringing PureView to Windows Phone, says Webber.
We’re expecting to see the first public unveiling of Windows Phone 8 next week when Microsoft holds its “sneak peek” at the future of Windows Phone event on June 20th. With rumors of Nokia Maps taking over Bing Maps functionality in Windows Phone 8, and some expected camera improvements — there could be a number of aspects to Windows Phone 8 that reveal Nokia’s true involvement in the platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone 8: Nokia Maps will reportedly replace Bing Maps with 3D navigation
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/12/3080096/windows-phone-8-nokia-maps-to-replace-bing-maps-rumor
We’re just just over a week away from Microsoft’s promised “sneak peek” at the future of Windows Phone and details about the next mobile operating system appear to be leaking out. Nokia Maps will replace Bing Maps in all Windows Phone devices, according to WPCentral — coupled with 3D navigation and hardware acceleration.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is not a good day for Nokia or Finland:
Today we tell from the planned changes due to the Nokia expects to reduce its global workforce of up to 10 000 employees by the end of 2013.
Finland planned reduction of about of about 3 700 jobs, of which about 850 jobs in the mobile phone plant in Salo and Salo mobile phone factory in support functions.
Statement on Thursday the Salo plant closure was a shock to employees because CEO Elop enthused Salo plant in public the importance of the previous grim news in February.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/talous/201206140092835_ta.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linus Torvalds: Microsoft was a mistake from Nokia
- I think the decision (by Nokia and Microsoft’s co-operation) was wrong. Nokia did not want to go Android, the trip because it was already other manufacturers. The situation, however, was exactly the same with Microsoft. Now, Nokia brings to the table a simple device. Linux solution, they would have had better opportunities to be involved in developing its own operating system.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/talous/2012061415705640_ta.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia issued a profit warning
Nokia to reduce Devices & Services business outlook for the second quarter due to the company’s strategy to changes in reporting today.
The company said that cost reductions due to the business unit against further 1.0 billion euros of restructuring costs to the end of 2013.
“These restructuring charges are in addition to the 2012 first quarter recorded by the end of the approximately 900 million in restructuring charges related to the previous cost-reduction targets,” the company says.
Nokia expects that Devices & Services unit of the second quarter operating margin (non-IFRS) will be lower than in the first quarter, when it stood at 3.0 per cent in the red.
Previously, Nokia expects the operating margin should be the same level as in the first quarter.
In order to improve their business model in the company seeks a significant reduction in Devices & Services business operating costs. The company plans to reduce staff levels, and significantly reduce the mill operations.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokia+antoi+tulosvaroituksen/a816457?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-14062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
ETLA Pekka Ylä-Anttila keep figures on the historical high. But he is not surprised by the figures.
“Such news waiting for. Nokia is the only way, however, the time to do something radical, as revenues are declining at a rapid pace,” he says Tieto week.
“However, this has a negative feedback loop of which it is difficult to get rid of. It only issues the deeper the spring has been”
“Now, the workers made redundant are predominantly well-educated: About 75 percent are highly educated. In Finland’s history is not likely to ever have happened to the same level”
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+irtisanomiset+quotsuomen+historiassa+ei+ole+ikina+tapahtunut+vastaavaaquot/a816419?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-14062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now, it happened: Nokia shares sank to less than 2 euros
Nokia’s share price fell below the 2.0 euro mark for the first time in years.
Nokia announced today that the massive layoffs, profit warnings and organization changes.
Source: http://www.taloussanomat.fi/informaatioteknologia/2012/06/14/nyt-se-tapahtui-nokia-vajosi-alle-2-euroon/201231521/12?rss=4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s long-term ex-Vice President Anssi Vanjoki commented: “A shame and grief, that’s all”
He says that Nokia’s Windows-based strategy has been limping badly.
Source: http://www.taloussanomat.fi/informaatioteknologia/2012/06/14/vanjoki-nokiasta-saali-ja-suru-siina-kaikki/201231529/12
Tomi Engdahl says:
The sad truth Nokia’s situation: the manufacturing industry to escape from the west
“Nokia’s changes have been monitored for a couple of years. The company’s market situation is constantly returned to normal, which does not make any changes easier to digest,” Aunesluoma says.
According to him, followed by Nokia as only one player in the global trend in which the manufacturing industry left by higher costs to the West. Industrial low-cost countries, the move itself is special about the fact that companies are today engaged in R & D activities with the countries of Asia, for example.
“In Western countries, specializes in the manufacturing industry of high-tech niche products in other industries like the electronics industry.”
“Nokia has taken a blow in the past, but the company is on the other hand always followed in an exemplary manner with the times.”
“If a Windows-based co-operation is not one reason or another function, then Nokia’s future is at stake,” he said.
Small consolation Aunesluoma points out that Nokia’s dominant market position in Finland has resulted in a variety of good, which does not disappear overnight.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/karu+totuus+nokian+tilanteesta+valmistava+teollisuus+karkaa+lannesta/a816598?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-14062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop confirmed a short while ago at the press conference that Nokia’s office will remain in Finland.
The company aims to cut 3700 jobs in Finland.
This is equivalent to more than 40 percent of all Nokia jobs in Finland!
Strong cuts in Finland indicate that, despite assurances Elop’s Nokia in Finland will remain only as long as it is the company’s performance and shareholder value.
According to Nokia, Salo R & D unit, however, is still important to the company. The company said that most of the Lumia-product development are made in Salo.
Elop stressed at the press conference several times, that layoffs have been made to secure the company’s finances.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/talous/201206140131350_ta.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elop: “We are sorry”
Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop said he was sorry cuts announced today was filed.
- Sorry, Elop said the company’s headquarters in Espoo at the press conference.
According to him, lay-offs are essential in order that the company would be a good development funds in the future, Elop said.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/tyo-ja-ura/2012/06/14/elop-olemme-pahoillamme/201231553/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leaked Screenshots: Windows Phone 8 Apollo UI with integrated Skype, Drive 3.0, Camera UI??
http://nokiainnovation.com/2012/06/leaked-screenshots-windows-phone-8-apollo-ui-with-integrated-skype-drive-3-0-camera-ui/
But I got some screenshots from an anonymous source who goes by the name DarkRiver (lol, you gotta love that name) which claims to be from a windows phone 8 device running via RDA.
First off, he says this is the integrated skype on WP8 and how it looks, this is a much awaited feature and we will definitely see it on the next major upgrade to windows phone
Tomi Engdahl says:
“NY Times reports that Nokia said on Thursday that it would slash 10,000 jobs, or 19 percent of its work force, by the end of 2013 as part of an emergency overhaul that includes closing research centers and a factory in Germany, Canada and Finland, and the departures of three senior executives.”
“The company also warned investors that its loss was likely to be greater in the second quarter, which ends June 30, than it was in the first, and that the negative effects of its transition to a Windows-based smartphone business would continue into the third quarter.”
Source: http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/06/14/1239216/nokia-to-cut-10000-jobs-and-close-3-facilities
Tomi Engdahl says:
The problem is the shops and vendors. Nokia’s CEO believes that it is frustrating that the Lumia-phones do not often get enough visibility to shops, vendors and do not recommend Lumia-phones to its customers. Instead of Nokia phones, many sellers prefer to present their customers with the popular iPhone and Android models.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2012/06/14/elop-lumiat-ovat-hyvia-ongelma-on-myynnissa/201231572/7?rss=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s collapse: price dropped 97 percent in 12 years
Next week, the 12 years since Nokia ‘s shares are clocked an all-time high rates of their 65 euros. Today the share of the Millennium scratch grips 96.8 per cent cheaper.
Course has been running from 2.06 to 2.07 euros.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+romahdus+kurssi+pudonnut+97+prosenttia+12+vuodessa/a816587?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-15062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Review: Nokia close to the bottom – which can be deceiving
Nokia’s basic phones, the sales may be near the bottom of the wave, investment bank Nomura estimates in its report. Basic phones, the rise sufficient to stabilize the situation in the company’s end of the year, even though smartphones would sink. Success in the coming years is still very uncertain.
Nomura, Nokia today’s announcement of more Lumia low-end models indicates that the S40 operating system can not compete against Google’s Android operating system. Nomura believes that profits of the basic phones may indeed be reduced again in the longer term.
There is uncertainty Windows Phone 8′s schedule.
Nokia’s share fell to 1.828 euros in Helsinki today. Is now Nomura believes that the right time to buy?
At least if you follow a buy-and-hold tactics, Nomura’s view, should be still very cautious.
Instead, a shorter term, Nokia’s shares, it is possible to earn as Nomura estimates that the rest of the year the stock price rises.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2012/06/14/arvio-nokia-lahella-pohjaa–joka-voi-pettaa/201231590/7?rss=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia to End “Meltemi” Effort for Low-End Smartphones
http://allthingsd.com/20120614/nokia-to-end-meltemi-effort-for-low-end-smartphones/
One of the casualties of Nokia’s latest cuts is Meltemi, the company’s effort to create a new Linux-based operating system for low-end smartphones.
The project was aimed at offering smartphones at prices that neither Android or Windows Phone could easily reach, but also would have required Nokia to try to woo developers for yet another operating system.
Nokia never officially confirmed the existence of Meltemi, so it likewise isn’t confirming its demise.
However, sources tell AllThingsD that the project has been shelved, though elements of it may live on in other efforts.
The end of the Meltemi project comes as Nokia is cutting a further 10,000 jobs, closing a plant in Finland and shuttering research facilities in Canada and Germany. Nokia announced last year that it was ceasing active work on Meego, a separate Linux-based operating system that it had planned to use at the high end, before making the move to Windows Phone.
Asked about Meltemi on a conference call Thursday, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said that he had never talked publicly about a development project by that name, but noted that Nokia was ending some development projects.
Nokia also said it is working hard with Microsoft to find ways to bring Windows Phone to ever-lower price points. The company is continuing efforts in the Windows-based tablet arena, sources said, though the company has yet to announce any products there.
Nokia is also exploring alternatives for another of its development environments, known as Qt, which today is used largely in embedded devices.
“We’re fans of Qt, and we’ll continue to support it in the near term, but are being open about looking for opportunities which may be best for this developer framework,” Kerris said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Fires 10K, Looks to Undercut Cheap Android Phones
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/06/nokia-fires-10000-looks-to-undercut-cheap-android-phones/
Two tech giants fail to keep up as cell phones and personal computers converge. The giants join forces. On Thursday, one of them became much less giant.
Nokia, formerly known as the world’s largest mobile phone maker, announced during a news conference that up to 10,000 workers would lose their jobs. The company also said a factory in its native Finland and research operations in Germany and Canada would close.
The cutbacks aimed at “sharpening its strategy”
“We need to compete with Android aggressively,” said Elop, as reported by The Verge. “The low-end price point war is an important part of that.”
Very important, mostly because Nokia hasn’t been able to compete at the high end with phones from Apple, Samsung, LG, HTC, and Motorola.
Nokia made a big marketing push in the U.S. with the April launch of its flagship Lumia 900
Based on the company’s second-quarter expectations, even Siri’s endorsement hasn’t sent enough people Nokia’s way to worry Apple, which sold more than 35 million iPhones last quarter. During that same period, Nokia sold upwards of 2 million phones in its Lumia line.
Whether lower prices can finally stanch Nokia’s spiraling losses and return the company to the salad days of the turn-of-the-century won’t be clear for a while, though it’s not through price that Apple and Google have kept their grip on the world’s mobile mindshare.
Microsoft hasn’t suffered the same gruesome decline, though it’s obviously struggled to create anything handheld that consumers care about. With Windows Phone capturing just 2.2 percent of the worldwide smartphone market in the last quarter (a tenth of a percentage point less than Linux)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia -critic Juhani Risku According to Nokia, is the massive layoffs despite still far too many people in product developent, if a company assesses its Microsoft’s contract manufacturer’s role.
“The contract requires the product development staff to coordinate the production of software and user interface in a practical laataamiseen, not any actual new development,” Risku assessed
“If Nokia wants to be other than a contract, in fact all of the strategic measures that are contrary to the communication and media businesses and the wider-screen business. It is in these divisions of Apple and Google are. ”
“I think that Nokia is in a situation where it does not have a viable vision of a contract manufacturer or a broader technology, media and communications business”
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/msareena/msuutiset/kaikkiareenauutiset/nokiakriitikko+sopimusvalmistajan+nakokulmasta+nokiassa+on+viela+25+000+tarpeetonta/a816686?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-15062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Increasing the fund-stroke internal combustion combined with a steep drop in sales of mobile phones may lead to the group’s total current cash burnout and raises questions about the company’s survival,” Societe Generale analyst Andy Perkins warned the customer letter.
Handelsbanken analyst Martin Nilson estimated economic life in an interview that these cost savings should be sufficient for now and the company can concentrate on other things such as the sale of products.
“These cuts were bigger than anybody could have hoped. We knew that something was going to happen, but this really exceeded our expectations,” Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies commented AFP.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/analyytikot+nokiasta+quotherattaa+kysymyksia+yhtion+hengissa+pysymisestaquot/a816709?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-15062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Nokia is facing faces total in the face of reality,” says research director Ben Wood research firm CCS Insight driven.
Brokerage Nomura analyst Richard Windsor , agrees: “The company was forced to announce something fairly drastic to get re-line encounters with reality.”
Nokia announced early dismissals in Europe and Mexico and plans to transfer more production to Asia.
The strategy did not work as hoped
The outlook for smartphones, is currently a reasonably dark to all the other players on the market except only Samsung and Apple.
“The market is very difficult.”
Wood of CCS Insight, Nokia’s problem is that other manufacturers have taken over the market for smartphone cameras.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/kylma+todellisuus+iski+vasten+nokian+kasvoja/a816903?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-15062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Elop’s family never moved to Finland
ERTO Chairman Yuri Aaltonen has taken the idea of a chain on his blog a step further: he believes Nokia can come off leaving the country altogether – that is, down to their head office.
“Elop promised in due course, that headquarters will remain in Finland. I do not believe in that. In time, was told that Elop’s family to move to Finland to live. This was supposed to be indicative of Nokia’s headquarters remaining in Finland. But is Elopin family moved permanently to Finland?”, Aaltonen wrote in a blog.
Source: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art-1288477167974.html
Tomi says:
What Do We Now Know, after Nokia’s Latest Profit Warning & Layoffs – The Titanic Deck Chairs Moment
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2012/06/what-do-we-now-know-after-nokias-latest-profit-warning-layoffs-the-titanic-deck-chairs-moment.html
I have a question for you. How many times do we get to hear Nokia CEO Stephen Elop say “its more challenging than I had expected” and “the sales channel is not supporting our products” and “I can’t give you a long term outlook” in reporting these profit warnings and every more disasterous Quarerly results, that his claim of “we are proceeding well along our strategy” starts to sound hollow. At what point does the CEO lose his credibility.
I think Elop lost his credibility yesterday. I will tell you why, and its that tired cliche of the Captain of the Titanic rearranging deck chairs while his ship is headed at the visible ice berg. But lets not go there yet. Lets first review what we now know that we did not know yesterday.
Nokia announced 10,000 layoffs.
END OF MELTEMI
And then we heard the new profit warning. That now Nokia tells us that even Q3 will be unprofitable. And Nokia tells us that the handset unit is suffering and the profit margins in the smartphone unit are the worst-performing (this is where that ‘proceeding well’ part of the Elop strategy is centered, with Windows Phone powered Lumia smarpthones). And we heard – once again, that while Elop loves his Lumia phones, for some reason the retail channel is not selling them. Yeah.
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
ARBITRARY PUNISHMENT
HOW TO ANGER YOUR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE
SELF-INFLICTED WOUND
Before the Elop Effect there was no ‘strength’ that Android or Apple had in retail. You walked into any telecoms retail store on the five continents where Nokia did well (not in North America obviously) and there were stacks of Nokias and the retail staff ran at you to sell you.. a Nokia! Nokia was famous for dominating the retail environment. Not just competitive, dominating it.
This is what Elop owned in January of last year. The world’s best reseller channel globally. The best carrier relationships (except in North America) and the bestselling dumbphones AND the bestselling smartphones on all five inhabited continents where on that continent you do not have six strong domestic handset rival manufacturers (like they do in the USA).
AGITATE THE WOUND TO MAKE IT HURT EVEN MORE
So the problem was caused by the Elop Effect. What did Elop do since? He could have tried to fix things. He didn’t. He made things worse by feuding and taunting the carriers from yes, celebrating Skype, to taking Micrsoftian bullying tactics to Lumia launch orders – so much so that some European carriers were complaining outloud about this last Autumn (almost never happens that these come into the open).
LETS LEARN FROM KALLASVUO
LETS FOLLOW THE MOTOROLA STRATEGY
WHAT ABOUT MAPPING
SO WHAT DID WE LEARN?
So we know that Elop can look at a problem for 14 months in a row, and come to the conclusion his strategy is fine and while retail sales is the problem, he can solve it by firing staff, closing factories, buying suppliers. Then that Elop doesn’t like any critical or informed feedback, he wants yes-men (or women). He has no safety net left, all knowledgable top staff have fled, resigned in protest or been fired. Elop thinks his carrier relationship problem can be fixed by appointing the most unacceptable guy to run that.
MEANWHILE IN REAL WORLD
Tomi says:
“Elop has done a great job in terms of Microsoft – Nokia can drip into the arms of the software giant really cheap”
This columnist thinks Jouko Marttila his blog and thinks the company could fall into the arms of Microsoft’s really cheap.
“Elop barked first thing that Nokia’s products and personnel. Ferry injected ablaze. Old Symbian phone sales plummeted before the new Lumiat were not even have time to present. Nokia’s sales plunged in value,” writes St. Maarten.
“Autumn featured Windows Phone 8-phones and tablets will create will certainly rejuvenate the Nokia’s survival, but the vulture strikes before the victim’s forces eventually started to recover. ”
Marttila thinks that the first step in Microsoft’s ownership might be a directed share issue, which Nokia would be able to make up for quick-drying pockets.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/quotelop+on+tehnyt+hienoa+tyota+microsoftin+kannalta++nokia+voi+tippua+ohjelmistojatin+syliin+todella+halvallaquot/a817126?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-17062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analysts: Nokia’s business value rounded to zero
Nokia on Thursday issued a profit warning and deepening of negative earnings, analysts have to consider the company’s true value.
Some of the prices the company for only its dwindling cash and assets to be realized on the basis of. The actual value of the business rather than a round to zero, the Wall Street Journal reported.
One of this view, the analyst is a BMO Capital Markets in Tim Long , which is priced according to the company at about € 6.7 billion, of which the patent portfolio would account for just under two billion.
“Nokia’s price for the equipment, and NSN ‘s value to zero, “Long said.
Analysts worry, especially the fact that Nokia could not last week to assess, because the loss spiral will stop, even if the expected savings to the stability of the company’s new space.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/analyytikot+nokian+liiketoiminnan+arvo+pyorea+nolla/a817346?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-18062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyst: Nokia-ship courses no longer impossible to turn
Andalys analyst Ari Hakkarainen, told the news agency AFP in an interview they attach Nokia ‘s strategy of teaming up with Microsoft to start from a wrong choice, but the tanker is now too late to try to turn.
“They have chosen this strategy and have invested in it all that Nokia has. In practice, the company must succeed or it falls”, Hakkarainen, told AFP.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/analyytikko+nokialaivan+kurssia+enaa+mahdoton+kaantaa/a817409?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-18062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 000 percent growth in Windows phone – is this what you require from Nokia?
Nokia would have to increase the supply of Windows Phone-5 000 per cent during the rest of the year to be able to simply replace the Symbian device sales decline, ABI Research analyst Michael Morgan calculates.
Nokia supplies faced 40 per cent drop
If the trend continues with the current quarter, RIM may be overridden by the supply of Nokia’s smartphones, ABI estimates.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2012/06/18/5-000-prosentin-windows-phone–kasvu–tatako-nokialta-vaaditaan/201231764/7?rss=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia after the purge: It’s so unfair
What, we fire thousands and the shares go down?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/18/nokia_analysis/
Last week Nokia did exactly what analysts have been begging it to do for years – it took an axe to the company’s bureaucracy and purged the leadership. The latest 10,000 redundancies leave the company with its smallest workforce since 1998. Nokia’s reward was a further 18 per cent fall in its share price. Thanks, markets.
The reason is that Nokia began to step back away from one of the three burning platforms identified by Elop last February. It no longer looks like Nokia has the appetite for a fight in all segments of the mobile phone business, from low-margin high-volume Asian markets, to mid-range touchscreen phones, to high-end smartphones.
But did Nokia have any choice – and is this a bad thing?
None of the old Tier 1 manufacturers play in the feature phone market anymore: Motorola and Sony (as Sony Ericsson) have already stopped. If Nokia insists on competing here it needs to do so from a low-cost base – the value will come from bundling Maps and other assets into the phones.
It’s worth remembering that Apple was in a similar crisis for three years in the mid-1990s, posting huge losses.
Elop has by several estimates until the end of 2013 before Nokia runs out of cash. If he fails, it will be because Nokia’s board didn’t institute radical change in 2007, change that would have nipped the later, explosive growth of Android. It certainly had the raw materials to do so, Qt was part of that, as well as the scale and reach.
Nokia is by some distance the most important and accomplished European technology company – and it still remains so today. But the margin of area for execution is now almost zero, and much of that is out of Nokia’s hands.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia after the purge: It’s so unfair
What, we fire thousands and the shares go down?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/18/nokia_analysis/