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:
Mobile phone company Nokia is planning to sell its headquarters in Espoo Keilaniemi, says Helsingin Sanomat this morning.
” The investigations have involved a possible sale of the head office. However, we do not have any plans to move the headquarters of the rest,” says the Economic and Financial Officer Timo Ihamuotila Helsingin Sanomat.
Source: http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/talous/hs_nokia_aikoo_myyda_paakonttorinsa
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elop: I do not know whether Microsoft’s makes their own phone
Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia CEO Stephen Elop says the All Things Digital Web site in an interview that he does not know, does Microsoft do to their own phone.
- I do not have the information that they are doing to design their own mobile phone. They can do it if they want, Elop commented on Microsoft rumors revolving around the phone.
Source: http://www.taloussanomat.fi/porssi/2012/10/03/elop-en-tieda-tekeeko-microsoft-oman-puhelimen/201239071/170?rss=4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finnish company struggles to transition:
Nokia considers selling its Espoo headquarters for an estimated $250 million
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/3/3447814/nokia-headquarters-espoo-finland-sale
Nokia’s recent financial results show the company is clearly struggling to transition over to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, with CEO Stephen Elop admitting that Nokia “would have liked to have done better” with its initial Lumia devices. As part of the company’s transition, Nokia has been shaking up its leadership team, cutting jobs, and relocating some of its device assembly lines. The Finnish firm is now considering a sale of its headquarters in Espoo.
Finnish newspaper Iltasanomat estimating the headquarters value at around 200-300 million euros ($258-386 million). The sale would represent around a quarter of Nokia’s Q2 total operating loss of €826 million (around $1 billion).
Ratings agencies have previously downgraded Nokia to junk status, making it increasingly difficult for the company to acquire credit at reasonable rates. Nokia will be hoping that it can hold on and transition to Windows Phone fully before having to take any more drastic cost cutting exercises.
A Nokia spokesperson has confirmed to us that the firm has no plans to move its headquarters, hinting it would likely lease the building back.
Tomi Engdahl says:
RIM, Windows Continue To Lose Mobile Market Share, Android Near 53 Percent — comScore
http://marketingland.com/rim-windows-continue-to-lose-mobile-market-share-comscore-23135
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft considering ‘Surface Phone,’ but not this year
Decision may hinge on success of Windows Phone 8
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/3/3445860/microsoft-surface-phone-rumors-windows-phone
Microsoft won’t release its own Windows Phone device this year, sources have told The Verge. Multiple insiders have confirmed there are no plans to introduce a Microsoft-branded Windows Phone device before the end of 2012, but that the company is likely considering it as a “Plan B.”
Microsoft is no stranger to branding its own phone hardware. In early 2010 the company released two Kin devices on Verizon.
Microsoft is changing rapidly, with CEO Steve Ballmer saying the future lies in a “devices-and-services company.” While Google continues to offer software and services at low-cost to OEMs, undermining Windows and Windows Phone license fees, Microsoft is battling to ensure the Windows ecosystem remains attractive to consumers and businesses who are continuing to focus on mobile devices. Unless Windows Phone manages to secure some improved momentum with version 8, then don’t be surprised to see a Surface phone next year.
free says:
Hmmm, yup no uncertainty Google is best for blogging but now word press is also good as a blogging for the reason that its Web optimization is good defined already.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google, Microsoft sing different tune for Nexus and Surface smartphones, say sources
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20121004PD201.html
Microsoft is reportedly tapping ODM maker Pegatron for the production of WP8-based smartphones slated for launch in the first half of 2013, the sources indicated.
Microsoft’s move to cooperate with ODMs could backfire, since its own-brand WP8 smartphones may compete directly with comparable models coming from its brand partners, including Nokia, HTC and Samsung. The three branded vendors have all unveiled their WP8 models.
Tomi says:
Nokia Working On A Windows RT Tablet, Currently Used For App Testing
http://wmpoweruser.com/nokia-working-on-a-windows-rt-tablet-currently-used-for-app-testing/
We previously reported in June that Microsoft may be helping Nokia to build its first Windows RT tablet. According to the latest information we got from our sources, we can confirm that Nokia is working on a Windows RT tablet.
Nokia Windows RT tablet is currently used by Microsoft to test ARM based Windows Store apps
Tomi Engdahl says:
Q&A: Nokia CEO Elop Talks Windows Phone and the Future
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/qa-nokia-ceo-stephen-elop/all/
Wired: You spoke a little bit about future technologies. Where do you see Nokia in five years?
Elop: I would say that the unifying thing is [holds up Lumia 920], “What is this thing?” We’re used to calling them phones, but the amount of time that I spend using it as a phone is just a fraction of the total amount of time that I use it. It’s really a collection of sensors. It’s got two cameras, a microphone, a compass, an accelerometer. The future of this technology, we think, is about great products that sense what you’re doing and what’s going on in the world around you, and thereby allow you to have a new or different experience, because what you’re seeing in the real world is connecting with the virtual world.
That may mean something we call a phone, it may be something entirely different. But that concept of mobility and connecting those worlds together all through great sensor technology is going to be really important. There’s a lot of opportunity there.
Wired: Do you see Nokia going into other product lines, like tablets or TVs?
Elop: We haven’t announced anything specifically, but what I will say is that people in their digital experience expect to be able to move seamlessly between form factors like a phone, a tablet, a television, an automobile, on and on and on. So we’ll participate in different elements of that to a greater or lesser extent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s Official: Windows Phone 8 Event Set for Oct. 29
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/its-official-windows-phone-8-event-coming-october-29/
There’s a lot coming from Microsoft in the coming weeks, including the Windows 8 and Surface launch on Oct. 25 in New York City, and the company’s developer-oriented Build conference on Oct. 30 in Redmond. Now Microsoft has just announced a Windows Phone 8 event on Oct. 29 in San Francisco.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokian sisäinen ja ulkoinen turmatutkinta
http://kritiikkiblogi.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/nokian-sisainen-ja-ulkoinen-turmatutkinta/
Air crash investigation is carried out for each flight after the accident, therefore, that the understanding of the causes of accidents
Majors drifting disaster reminds the plane crash: the company has made major structural defects, had been careless and indifferent, in the company are not sufficiently equipped for future and there will be fooled.
The company is then rather a carefully prepared systemic failure: the business model have not been able to change the competitive situation changes, the incompetent leadership during more than a critical mass, none of the project does not have the right determination and passion, and the strategy has been unworthy of vision.
Oh, and the customer is forgotten in two ways: he has been listening to too much, in which case the customer is the company’s visionary and planner, or he is not understood at all, that is, the customer is not made to the products and services that he or she would want to surprise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia chairman of the board, Risto Siilasmaa, had an interview with YLE: the Windows Phone strategy is a successful choice.
- All of the analyzes that we have show that we succeed, Siilasmaa said.
- Windows Phone 8 is going to be a very important opportunity for us. As a result, the smartphone market will definitely be an event of positive developments
- Painful decisions are made, as long as it is needed.
Source: http://www.taloussanomat.fi/informaatioteknologia/2012/06/28/siilasmaa-ylelle-windows-phone-8-kaantaa-suunnan/201232479/12
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft has a long history in the mobile industry alliances with its partners have been beaten in a way or another.
Nokia has tried to explain to them the best in the twists and turns.
Nokia is still well positioned to keep its position as the Windows Phone manufacturers number one, that much good work the company has made innovation side of the device. However, it seems that Nokia may fall less on Microsoft’s support. Unpleasant surprises can be more.
Nokia should, therefore, even more important not to put all his chips eggs in one basket.
Although our management stubbornly close this option off, the company’s device innovations would help the company stand out much faster growing Android smartphone market.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/olisiko+nokialla+oikeus+syrjahyppyyn/a844767
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s smartphone product marketing manager Ilari Nurmi has left the company.
Nurmi was responsible for Nokia product marketing and strategy for smart phones.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2012100516167069_du.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s Vice Chairman Marjorie Scardino will leave her post says the business newspaper Financial Times.
65-year-old Scardino has been part of Nokia’s Board of Directors since 2001.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+varapuheenjohtaja+aikoo+jattaa+yhtion/a845627?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-08102012&
Tomi says:
Nokia launches portable solar charger in Kenya
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2012/10/nokia-launches-portable-solar-charger-in-kenya/
Nokia has announced the availability of a new portable solar charger in Kenya aimed specifically at the eighty percent of Kenyans without regular access to electricity.
Nokia Portable Solar Charger, DC-40, which will be retailing at Sh1,250, (around 11 Euros) is being marketed by Nokia to test the viability of solar charging as an alternative mobile phone charging system in Africa.
he technical solution is a thin film panel, measuring 165mm x 237mm with a long cable and 2mm Nokia plug interface.
with one minute of charging, consumers will be able to get approximately two minutes of talk time.
The solar charger is most efficient when used in direct sunlight where the average charging time for full charge on a 1000mAh battery would be under four hours.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Q3 2012 Nokia is believed to have sold 7.9 million smartphones, including Windows phones would account for 3.7 million. Last year, Nokia sold 17 million smartphones.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/ennuste+samsung+hallitsi+q3lla+nokia+myi+37+miljoonaa+windowspuhelinta/a846613?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-11102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung, not Nokia, fans’ most favoured WinPho brand
Survey suggests Microsoft could triple is market share
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/10/12/survey_shows_samsung_is_most_favoured_windows_phone_brand/
Nine per cent of folk thinking of getting a new phone in the next six months say they’re likely to go for a Windows Phone 8 device.
If you’ve been keeping an eye on Windows Phone demand for some time, you’ll know its market share is typically around the two per cent mark. Which, not coincidentally, is the proportion of pro-Windows Phone survey respondents who ticked the ‘very likely’ box.
The remaining seven per cent only went as far as to say they are ‘somewhat likely’ to go for a handset running the new Microsoft OS. That shows that Redmond has its core audience, but that it has the potential to triple its – albeit small – market share.
Just over half – 55 per cent – of people considering getting a Windows Phone device said they already know which hardware brand they’ll choose, and of them half – 51 per cent – said they would go for a Samsung.
Nokia was the brand favoured by 35 per cent, HTC by seven per cent and other brands combined by six per cent.
The first Windows Phone 8 devices – among them Nokia’s Lumia 820 and 920, and Samsung’s Activ S – are expected to debut later this month. Windows Phone 8 itself is released on 29 October
Nokia smartphone repair: Lumia 800 « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog says:
[...] smartphone repair: Lumia 800 Nokia Lumia 800 smart phone has display got broken. What to do? A real goldmine for anyone attempting to [...]
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s earnings plummeted – better than what was feared
“As before, we estimate the 2012 third quarter was in Devices & Services business difficult. Nevertheless, we welcome the fact that the Nokia Group returned to operationally profitable, non-IFRS numbers measured,” CEO Stephen Elop says the release.
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+tulos+romahti++pelkoja+parempi/a848339?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-18102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia earnings pain masks intact war chest, brewing counterattack
And don’t forget the dumbphone sector either
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/18/nokia_earnings_q3_2012/
Nokia reported another painful quarter today and warned of more to come. The Finnish phone giant reported sales were down 19 per cent year-on-year to €7.2bn for Q3, with an operating loss of €576m. On the positive side the war chest of net cash is unperturbed at €3.6bn, and Nokia’s networks division and feature phones did well.
The cash pile is important, as it’s going to need it.
Nokia won’t book revenue from the new range until mid-way through Q4 – and only in selected markets. As a consequence, it’s flushing out the channel inventory of its current Lumias at very low prices. Officially, sales of Lumia phones dwindled to 2.9m, and the company reported an operating margin (non-IFRS) of -19.2 per cent (-7.4 per cent IFRS).
Sales of smartphones fell from 16.8m in the same quarter a year ago, to 6.3m.
So, the only way is up?
The bright spot was strong sales of its Asha phones: feature phone sales grew by 3 per cent, and sales into Asia-Pacific continued to climb. Nokia can still compete in the sub-$100 market
Microsoft continues to pump $250m into its key partner, Nokia confirmed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elop: a Surface phone would stimulate the Windows Phone ecosystem
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/18/3520492/nokia-ceo-stephen-elop-microsoft-surface-phone-comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 Brands Losing the Most Value
http://247wallst.com/2012/10/08/10-brands-that-lost-the-most-value/
While some of the biggest brands — including Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Samsung and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) – have grown their value by more than 20% since last year’s report, others have fallen precipitously.
As Apple and Samsung have redefined the mobile phone market, brands like BlackBerry and Nokia are being left behind.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Symbian is now in ‘maintenance mode’, and Belle FP2 was its last ever update, Nokia Developer support is telling devs.
This is hardly a surprise, but official confirmation of any kind has been elusive.
The OS made its debut in a commercially available product in 1997, giving it a 15-year run on the market, and it has since powered more than 400 million devices, at a rough estimate
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/19/symbian_maintenance_mode/
Tomi says:
Nokia Q3 Results.. What can I say, we knew it would be misery all around
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2012/10/nokia-q3-results-what-can-i-say-we-knew-it-would-be-misery-all-around.html
When Stephen Elop announced his surprising Windows strategy on February 11, 2011, he promised a 1 to 1 transition from Symbian, and that Windows would also start to take sales from featurephones. Now we have seen 6 quarters of Eloppian management execution of that new strategy and four quarters of Lumia sales using that new promised Windows platform. Some so-called experts promised this would be a ‘third ecosystem’ (haha) and some so-called experts promised Microsoft-powered Nokia would have over 20% market share in smartphones. Now we can see what the reality is like.
First the top-line info. Nokia reports Q3 smartphone sales of 6.3M units of sales which is down 38% (in just one quarter!) from 10.2M in Q2. The Nokia smartphone revenues are 976M Euros (1,279 M US Dollars), down 37% from Q2.
How is that promise of the third ecosystem doing? Lumia sales are DOWN and massively, 27% just from the quarter before (how’s ‘em apples, then? The promise of AT&T success and ‘outselling Apple in China haha). Yes, Lumia sales down from 4.0M in Q2 to 2.9M now. Bear in mind, the market is GROWING.
Windows Phone global market share fallen from 3% in Q2 to 2% now! How’s that for your ‘third ecosystem’? Windows had 12% market share five years ago in smartphones. It had 5% before Windows Phone first edition launched.
Windows Phone global market share fallen from 3% in Q2 to 2% now! How’s that for your ‘third ecosystem’? Windows had 12% market share five years ago in smartphones. It had 5% before Windows Phone first edition launched.
Now they are falling again, and will be around 2% this quarter. This is Elop’s saviour-OS. This is what he staked all of Nokia’s future on. A platform which in 2010 was declining, in 2011 was declining more, and now, in the latest quarter is once again declining in market share. 2%.. Two percent and falling. Two YEARS after Windows Phone launched.
The profitability (ie loss-making percent) ie ‘contribution margin is massively worse – now Nokia generates a loss of 48.9% per smartphone it sells! This is ridiculous.
I told you in February 2011 that Nokia’s smartphone sales would collapse with this mad strategy. I said right then in February that Nokia’s smartphone sales would be down to a 12% market share by year-end 2011 (it ended up being.. 12%). No other analyst suggested this massive a fall
My first gut feeling of how this partnership might ‘work’, back then in February 2011, was that the new Microsoft powered Windows based Nokia smartphones would have 8% market share by end of 2012. That – was of course assuming that Nokia made wise (ie normal) decisions about its products, to suit its customers and markets – not the madness we’ve seen
But thing kept getting worse. I had of course assumed Nokia would at least buy into a system which itself was new, and sustainable, and upgradable! I had not anticipated that Elop’s ‘BFF’ Steve Ballmer would screw this ‘strategic partnership’ that royally, as he did in June when Ballmer said the Nokia Lumia series won’t be able to be upgraded to Windows Phone 8. What kind of madness is this Elop strategy?
Elop selected a platform which itself was going to be obsolete within 16 months of the great February 11 announcement in 2011.
So even the new Nokia OS that you tried to kill, MeeGo, will actually live longer than Windows Phone 7, the OS you preferred, now that Jolla will be releasing their first MeeGo based smartphones next year. Haha, the irony.
TRUST ME PLEASE. The Windows Phone 8 based ‘new Lumia’ sales will be a FRACTION of what Nokia smartphones do now. The market share which is now 4% will be LESS with Windows Phone 8. This is a certain road to ruin for Nokia!
Do not delude yourself! The year 2013 yes, we will see Windows Phone 8 sales. But look what the analysts now are saying. Earlier there was the hysteria that this would be the ‘third ecosystem’ (haha) and would have (gosh) 20% or even 28% market share. No. That will never happen. Now, not me, other analysts, are suggesting this Q4 and next year 2013, Windows Phone and Nokia Lumia series will have something in the range of 2% or 3% market share. One TENTH of the fantasy.
This is the slide that makes me weep. Nokia invented the smartphone. Nokia had QWERTY smarpthones for business before RIM’s Blackberry. Nokia invented the consumer smartphone. Nokia had touch screens and an app store before the iPhone. Nokia saw the future, and was on the path to migrate its handset base, faster than any of its rivals, and ahead of the industry average, to smartphones. Nokia was ahead of the curve.
Today Nokia’s smarpthone migration rate is 7.5% and falling. Elop converted Nokia into the handset equivalent of Dell. (Exactly like I predicted this silly strategy would result)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Predicts Another Transition Quarter as Loss Widens
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-18/nokia-reports-sixth-straight-loss-as-lumia-sales-wane.html
Nokia Oyj (NOK1V), posting its sixth straight loss since adopting Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s Windows software, projected another “transition” quarter as it revamps its handset lineup to challenge the iPhone.
Nokia has accumulated 4.8 billion euros in losses since Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop started his bet in early 2011 on handsets using Windows. To reduce costs, Elop has cut more than 20,000 jobs and closed production and research sites as Nokia’s latest devices have failed to stop customer defections to Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android software.
“The core business of devices and services is still struggling,” said Lars Soederfjell, an analyst at Aalandsbanken in Stockholm. “It’s hard to say if they are out of the woods.”
Nokia, which controlled more than half of global smartphone sales before the first iPhone and Android devices were introduced, last year jettisoned its homemade Symbian software in favor of Windows. Smartphones running the Microsoft program have failed to threaten Apple and Google’s lead, having a market share of 2.7 percent in the second quarter compared with 83 percent for the iPhone and Android devices combined, according to Gartner Inc.
The fourth quarter will “continue the transition” as Nokia moves to the new Windows devices, Elop said on a conference call
Tomi Engdahl says:
Basic phones are Nokia’s strategy is to bring the next billion internet connections.
Toikkanen believes that currently the world’s two billion without a mobile phone of the people opt for the Nokia device “in many cases”.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/kaleva+nokia+aikoo+tuoda+miljardi+ihmista+netin+pariin/a849191?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-22102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Q3: Symbian has made more money for Nokia than Lumia phones
Earnings figures are slightly rotating the fact reveals that the old Symbian platform based phones generated more revenue to Nokia in Q3 2012 than Windows platform operating Lumia models.
Nokia sold in July-September, a total of 6.3 million smartphones
The company said separately that the Lumia phones sold 2.9 million units, and that the Windows device average selling price was 160 euros. Raw multiplication to produce Lumia phones turnover of EUR 464 million.
Symbian phones (and MeeGo N9 model’s) figures are not separately report to open, but the subtraction shows that the volume was about 3.4 million units and net sales of about EUR 512 million.
Smartphone, gross margin was a negative 3.5 per cent now.
A year ago, when the gross margin was 20.7 percent positive.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokia+teki+symbianilla+rahaa+enemman+kuin+lumiapuhelimilla/a849381?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-23102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s Lumia range has been given a new entrant to the Nokia Lumia 510 smartphone, which is primarily focused on emerging markets.
Windows Phone 7.5 platform
Estimated price without taxes for about $ 200, or about 150 euros.
Lumia 510 will start selling in India and China during November.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/lumia+510++faktat+ja+kuvat/a849578?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-23102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X available for pre-order at BestBuy
http://m.wpcentral.com/nokia-lumia-920-and-htc-8x-available-pre-order-bestbuy
The advertisement went up early this morning and lists the Lumia 920 as being available in yellow, red, white, cyan and black. The price… $149.99 with new activation and $599.99 unactivated.
The HTC 8X is being offered in purple for $99.99 with new activation and $599.99 unactivated.
Shipping is listed as “Reserve today. Will ship when available”
Two new mobile phone companies from Finland « Tomi Engdahl’s ePanorama blog says:
[...] situation that Nokia is going down fast with Windows Phone seems to have created place for some new mobile phone companies in Finland. Two new mobile phone [...]
Tomi Engdahl says:
Some of the Lumia phones moved backward one hour at night – here’s why
Nokia’s Communications Manager Tom Kuuppelomäki says that last night’s events were already known in advance, because similar problems had been experienced in the past.
- To fix the issue, then the next software upgrade, he says.
Communications Master of the failure was due to the fact that some phones the device operating system had software error that caused it did not follow Helsinki time zone.
Within onee time zone different countries can move to summer and winter time at different times, the clock could therefore move themselves to another time if the time zone setting is not exactly right (just getting right time to show does not guarantee that). Last night Jordan (on the same time zone as Finland) moved to winter time.
Time zone can be automatically or manually via the network by the user.
Nokia’s website tells that users are encouraged to disable the auto-configuration and choose manually the correct time zone. When the phone is in the Helsinki time zone, it will automatically switch to winter time at right time.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2012102616251418_du.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia fell in the third quarter from the tip of the five smartphone vendors. The company is still fighting the market leaders, Samsung and Apple, but also with Huawei to like new challengers appear on the market all the time.
Research firm IDC, Nokia smartphone deliveries were still in third place in Q2.
According to IDC, the smartphone market is, however, room for several ecosystems, including Nokia.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/kohti+kuraliigaa++nokia+putosi+alypuhelinvalmistajien+top5sta/a850764?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-26102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
All in all smartphone shipments grew last quarter of 45.3 percent. A market leader Samsung’s share rose by 31.3 per cent had been, and the delivery volume was 56.3 million units.
Apple’s share grew by 15 per cent. Just published earnings figures, it provided the Q3 about 26.9 million smartphones.
Nokia now rang out ahead of the ZTE, HTC, and even financial difficulties militant Research in Motion.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/kohti+kuraliigaa++nokia+putosi+alypuhelinvalmistajien+top5sta/a850764?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-26102012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Former Microsoft manager Jonathan Murray think it is likely that Microsoft buy important parts of Nokia.
“When Microsoft enters the phone business, Nokia’s time as an independent company is over,” he writes in his blog.
Murray takes it for granted that Microsoft will take myself to produce Windows Phone 8 handsets. Since the company’s own smartphone would know he said the final nail in the coffin of Nokia.
Source: http://m.tietoviikko.fi/Uutiset/%22Kun+Microsoft+siirtyy+puhelinbisnekseen%2C+Nokian+aika+itsen%C3%A4isen%C3%A4+yrityksen%C3%A4+on+ohi%22/2
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft’s Pivot — A Plan to Dominate “Devices and Services”
http://www.adamalthus.com/blog/2012/10/25/microsofts-pivot/
We are currently witnessing a major pivot in Microsoft’s core business model. It is starting to become clear that — as Steve Ballmer recently announced — Microsoft is deadly serious about becoming a global leader in consumer “Devices and Services.” Successful execution of this strategy will require the company to control everything from manufacturing, distribution logistics through to retail.
Nok Nok…
Perhaps the company most likely to be impacted by Microsoft consumer devices strategy is Nokia. I have absolutely no doubt that Microsoft is going to become a manufacturer of a full range of Windows 8 based smartphones. That is going to happen sooner rather than later. When Microsoft launches a ‘Surface Phone’ it is quite simply game over for Nokia.
Consumers already have a hard time choosing betweens phones running Windows Phone 7 and competing offers from Apple and the Android OEMs. If Microsoft comes to market with a range of world-class device running Windows 8 and sells them through its own retail channel then I don’t see much opportunity for Nokia – or any other Win8 phone OEM for that matter.
Nokia’s strategic options are shrinking rapidly. Its my view that when Microsoft enters the phone business with its own devices Nokia will have run out of time as an independent company. The most likely final chapter in its storied history sees Microsoft buying up Nokia’s sizable patent portfolio, its in-house design and engineering expertise and — perhaps — the brand rights. Perhaps Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop will even rejoin the Microsoft leadership team to run the phone business. Alternatives to this outcome seem to be very few and far between.
Truly a sad end to a once dominant company.
Two OS to Rule Them All?
Can Microsoft maintain its current corporate structure if it successfully pivots its business model to become a leading consumer devices company? I suspect not.
Successfully executing on the strategy outlined in this article would clearly give Microsoft a new lease on life.
The problem of where to put the Windows division would be made a lot easier if Microsoft had two operating systems, one consumer focused and the other designed for the enterprise. This realization puts a whole new spin on the Windows 8 strategy.
There are two versions of Windows 8 — one a direct descendant of Windows 7 designed for the Intel architecture and a second brand new ‘RT’ — version designed for ARM based devices. Initially this looked to be a retrograde step. The company spent years and billions of dollars trying to collapse it’s complex operating system portfolio down to one general purpose variant of Windows. Now it has gone in the opposite direction. Microsoft now has two versions of Windows; one enterprise focused and one purposefully designed for consumer devices.
Breaking the company up into independent consumer and enterprise focused entities would drive huge clarity and focus and unlock a lot of shareholder value. Having two distinct versions of Windows 8 aligned to each segment just made that a lot more straightforward.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphones Drive Third Quarter Growth in the Worldwide Mobile Phone Market, According to IDC
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23753512
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. October 25, 2012 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 2.4% year over year in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), driven by heavyweights Samsung and Apple as Nokia dropped off the Top 5 list of smartphone vendors. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 444.5 million mobile phones in 3Q12 compared to 434.1 million units in the third quarter of 2011.
Equally noteworthy was the decline of Nokia, which was replaced by Research In Motion as a Top 5 smartphone player. Nokia’s exit from the Top 5, where it had resided since the inception of IDC’s Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004, was precipitated by the rise of Samsung and Apple globally and high-growth vendors like Huawei in China, where Nokia was the dominant player as recently as the third quarter of 2011.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ballmer bets ‘all in’ on Phone 8 and Windows
Claims other smartphone UIs are old or stolen
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/29/ballmer_phone8_windows_launch/
Steve Ballmer is promising Microsoft is “all in” on the Windows 8 system and took to the stage, along with a mystery celebrity, to push the latest version of Microsoft’s smartphone operating system at a launch event in San Francisco.
“Today we’re bringing phones into the Windows Family with Windows Phone 8,” he said. “If you’re one of the hundreds of millions of people that will use Windows 8 in the next year, there is no better phone for you than a Windows phone. All Windows 8 devices share the same iconic look and feel.”
Microsoft has correctly figured out that if it can’t make Phone 8 attractive from an applications perspective then the operating system is doomed, so it made a big deal of the subject. There are over 120,000 applications ready in its store, Belfiore said, and claimed that Windows Phone 8 has 46 of the top 50 mobile apps in use today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile phone giant Nokia did not pay last year any taxes in Finland!
- In 2011, the parent company’s taxable income has been negative, and this is why the company has not been needed to pay income tax, says the Nokia communication.
Nokia taxes paid taxes abroad 138 million.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/verot/2012110116276821_vr.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tietoviikko says that Nokia paid 150 Euros of taxes to Finland.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokia+maksoi+ennatysverot+nollatuloista+valtion+kassaan+150+euroa/a852593?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-01112012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study: Finnish men choose Windows Phone to introduce technological cleverness
86 per cent of Finnish Windows phone users think their phones are easy to use
half of the respondents said they had chosen the product specifically for clarity and ease of use.
Windows Phone users, 54 per cent of the male considered himself more technologically advanced than their friends around them.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/tutkimus+suomalaismiehet+valitsevat+windows+phonen+esitellakseen+teknologista+etevyyttaan/a853311?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-05112012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Journal: Nokia to delay it’s tablet due Microsoft
Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has had to postpone their tablet PC because of the publication of Microsoft’s tablet, says Digitimes.
Notebook brands that were originally aggressive about pushing Windows on Arm (WoA) tablets have mostly cooled down following the launch of Microsoft’s Surface RT. Digi Times reports that Nokia and other manufacturers have transferred to Windows-based tablet computers in income due to Surface. These include Asustek, Dell, Samsung and Lenovo.
Sources:
http://www.3t.fi/artikkeli/uutiset/teknologia/lehti_nokia_viivastyttaa_tabletiaan_microsoftin_takia
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20121030PD211.html
Tanatin says:
Windows in a mobile is simply a shit and nothing more. Forgive me, but I prefere Linux like MeeGo.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android-based smartphone operating system share of a growing market rose to 75 percent in July-September. Symbian dropped dramatically to 4.1 per cent. It is a still higher Phone for Windows.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/mobiili/2012/11/05/oho-symbian-on-yha-windows-phonea-suurempi/201241362/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
Battery saver: The Nokia X Burton Insulator case
http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/11/02/battery-saver-the-nokia-x-burton-insulator-case/
The Nokia X Burton Insulator case has been specially designed to protect your phone from the cold and snow.
In tests, it was found that the Nokia X Burton Insulator case helps to extend your phone’s battery life by up to 50 per cent* in cold and sub-zero temperatures.
It might seem bizarre but keeping your phone wrapped up warm really does seem to make a big difference.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Review: Nokia Lumia 920
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2012/11/04/review-nokia-lumia-920/
The Lumia 920 is Nokia’s new flagship phone, it’s an evolution of the stylish Lumia 800 and Lumia 900, but it brings with it a number of innovative new features that Nokia believes differentiates it not only from other Windows Phone 8 handsets, but from the incredibly popular iPhone 5, Galaxy S III and new Nexus 4 smartphones.
If you like a lighter device, the Lumia 920 may disappoint, but after a couple of days of use, you do become used to it.
Powering the device is a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, complete with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
The Lumia 920 continues to display Nokia’s unique rounded polycarbonate design.
Nokia takes great pride in the Lumia 920′s IPS LCD display
PureMotion HD+ is another marketing gimmick, but there’s also some real science behind the display technology powering the Lumia 920.
Lumia 920′s ambient light sensor to automatically adapt the screen in different lighting conditions
The Lumia 920 is Nokia’s first smartphone to carry the PureView brand, expanding beyond the critically-acclaimed 808 PureView. While it doesn’t feature the same 41-megapixel sensor, the Lumia 920 packs an f/2.0 8.7-megapixel camera but the magic is in its optical image stabilisation and low-light sensitivity.
optical image stabilisation features are seriously good.
thanks to its “floating lens” technology, which suspends the Lumia 920′s optics and stabilises it using springs.
In low-light conditions, the Lumia 920 is unsurpassed.
The Lumia 920′s spring-supported apparatus really excels itself in video tests too.
Much like the HTC 8X, the Lumia’s dual-core 1.5GHz S4 processor makes easy work of nearly everything you throw at it. Apps load quickly, videos are smooth and often it’s Windows Phone 8′s own loading transitions that give makes it appear that an app is loading slower, when it really isn’t.
Microsoft has done a great job at making Windows Phone relevant again, updating its core offering to match and in some cases offer more than rival platforms from Apple and Google.
Coming up against the HTC 8X, it’s close between the two, but the Nokia Lumia 920 edges out its HTC rival on imaging, ecosystem and its overall design.
However, it’s the Lumia 920′s considerable heft that will really surprise people when they first pick it up, and at times may nag at them when they compare the virtues of other devices. From my perspective, you’re not going to buy a case for the Lumia 920 as it feels considerably well built, and its weight adds to that.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Said to Plan Phone If Partner Approach Falters
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-02/microsoft-said-to-plan-phone-if-partner-approach-falters.html
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is making plans for the possible creation of its own mobile phone to help it gain share in the market for handheld devices, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans.
The company is considering building mobile hardware as a back up, in the event that its current approach of providing software to handset makers such as Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and HTC Corp. (2498) falters, said the people, who requested anonymity because the plans are private. Microsoft is for now confident that its current strategy will succeed, the people said.
Still, Microsoft wants to ensure that if the handset makers come up short, the company won’t have to start building its own hardware from scratch and on short notice, one of the people said.
“This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves — as a devices and services company,” Ballmer said in the letter. In interviews, Ballmer has declined to rule out making a phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Tests Smartphone With Asia Suppliers
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204712904578093680117917590.html
TAIPEI—Microsoft Corp. is working with component suppliers in Asia to test its own smartphone design, people familiar with the situation said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s impact in Finland:
Nokia’s long-term, large software suppliers Digia and Ixonos in couple of years have reduced the workforce by more than one thousand.
End of 2010, Digia had 1,362 employees in Finland. At the end of September this year, the number had fallen to 810. Continue to decline
Ixonos end of 2010 was 718 persons in Finland work. At the end of September, there were only 432 employees.
The same category also includes Accenture, which said on Wednesday it will begin co-operation negotiations 330 job cuts. Nokia outsourced to Accenture for more than 2 000 Symbian developers in the spring of 2011, after the company announced smartphones to focus on the Windows platform.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/nokian+vaikutus+ohjelmistoalihankkijoilta+lahtenyt+jo+yli+tuhat/a853603?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-06112012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows Phone 8 has a secret feature which may activate at any time
Aims to let users surf free WiFi ‘spots all unknowing
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/06/windows_phone_devicescape/
Microsoft has embedded software from Devicescape into Windows Phone 8, allowing smartmobes to automatically leech off 11 million free Wi-Fi hotspots.
Devicescape’s technology is already mandated by Intel in its Ultrabook blueprints, but this Windows Phone tie-up is potentially a much bigger deal as phones already outnumber laptops in terms of Wi-Fi usage. Windows Phone 8 devices will be able to identify nearby hotspots and query a remote server to discover the best way to automatically log on, or record how someone connects manually for the benefit of other users.
The software, which Microsoft is branding Data Sense and operators are wrapping with their own interface, is only interested in free hotspots such as those provided by cafes, railways stations, airports and public bodies.
A device with the software installed crafts a special DNS request containing the identity of the hotspot and sends it off a central server; DNS requests are typically forwarded by free Wi-Fi networks without requiring the user to be logged on, so the Devicescape server can respond with instructions specific to that hotspot. The device can then login itself and start downloading, say, Facebook updates without ever leaving the user’s pocket.