Android may have an insurmountable lead in the Chinese smartphone market, but when it comes to internet-connected mobiles Symbian and Nokia are still number one according to new stats from search giant Baidu.
The company’s latest quarterly Mobile Internet Development Trends Report for Q1 2012 measured only internet-connected phones which have browsed the web through Baidu.
Discarding the category of ‘other’ which came out tops on both counts, the breakdown by brand shows Nokia in the lead with 22 per cent, counterfeit or shanzhai products with 16.1 per cent and Samsung third with a share of 10.4 per cent.
Apple is fourth with 5.9 per cent, which tallies with Analysys International’s estimates that iOS had a smartphone market share of 5.7 per cent by the end of 2011.
The times they are a-changing, however, with Nokia at risk of losing that impressive lead if it doesn’t innovate and produce more smartphones that appeal to users, said Baidu.
It may need more than the recently launched Lumia 800C and the planned 610C to do this, especially given the fierce competition in the smartphone market.
One strategy would be to target the entry-level, which is set to provide great growth opportunities for handset makers in China. In fact, with domestic giants such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo all set to launch in that area, the days of shanzhai manufacturers could also be numbered.
“Nokia’s mobile market share continues to drop, with 5.8 [per cent] decrease month-by-month and 18.4 per cent drop year-on-year. Shanzhai phones’ market share is also steadily decreasing, with 4.3 per cent decrease month-by-month and 10.3 per cent drop year-on-year,” said Baidu.
Over on the platform side, Baidu hasn’t broken the results down in English but TechInAsia has a handy translation.
Android is surprisingly down in fourth place with a share of 14.4 per cent, despite an overwhelming lead in the pure-play smartphone market of around 70 per cent, according to Analysys International stats.
Discounting ‘other’ again, number one spot goes to that old classic Symbian S60, with 17.2 per cent of the Baidu-surfing market, followed by MTK – an OS favoured by shanzhai handset makers – with 16.7 per cent, and then the nondescript ‘feature phone’ with 16.1 per cent.
Apple’s iOS is fifth with 5.8 per cent, just a percentage point higher than Symbian on the S40.
All of which proves that while the smartphone market is where most Chinese users are headed, the majority are still on much more basic handsets, according to IDC research manager Ian Song.
“The biggest thing to consider here is that China is still predominately a feature phone market. Based on our sell-in numbers, feature phones made up 75 per cent and smartphones made up 15 per cent of the total PRC mobile phone market in 2011,” he told The Reg.
“Going forward, IDC believes that feature phone brands and OSes will speed up in decline as smartphones becomes cheaper and more useable in China.” ®
Nokia is giving away 1,000 Lumia 800 devices to app developers - Silicon Republic
Varty said the apps Marketplace on Windows Phone is developing fast and as of April there were 70,000 apps in the Marketplace, with 300 new apps being added every day.
“The pace in terms of the number of apps that are coming to the platform is really positive," he said. "All the big-ticket apps are there, like Angry Birds, LinkedIn, Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, etc. But the message we need to get out to top development talent is to get developing."
Varty was recently in Dublin where he met with 20 of Ireland's top developers.
Lust for innovation
“It strikes me that developers are looking for something else and in most cases having already developed for iOS are looking for something new and that's not necessarily Android."
The key strategy Nokia is employing is to make it easier for developers to develop for Windows Phone.
“Developers and designers are inspired by the Metro interface. It's unique, it's fresh and contemporary. Plus Windows Phone is a very context-based operating systems for starters. A lot of developers are looking for something that inspires them and for ways for content to be seen and heard."
Varty said Nokia is taking a very hands-on approach to working with developers to the point of working with them on where and how they target and sell content within Windows Marketplace.
He said that as part of a joint programme with Microsoft, there is a maelstrom of activity taking place in terms of bi-monthly coder camps, student workshops, and faculty programmes.
“We have created a number of resources where you can go and collect vital tools and SDKs from the App Hub, or general tools around learning to code.
“We are also ceding more than 1,000 devices over the course of 12 months into the developer community. Developers who can demonstrate that they are working on an app via Visual Basic and that they are serious about the product they are creating will be issued with a Lumia 800."
Varty added that in terms of sales and marketing tools, Nokia is running a pilot called Marketing in a Box, which was launched at the GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this year. The resource kit includes strategies on how to market apps via Facebook and Twitter, create videos on YouTube and develop banner ads.
“It's all about giving the developers the marketing tools to make their apps successful. We are currently running another pilot in the UK called Appvertise, where we are giving a selection of publishers and developers free advertising space on Marketplace with a view to marketing their new apps," Varty said.
John Kennedy 
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Buying Nokia Below $3 Is Like Buying Ford Below $2 - Seekingalpha.com
A few years ago when I was buying shares of Ford (F) at prices below $2, my friends kept telling me I was crazy. They told me I was throwing good money after bad money. Then my investment in Ford returned me about 900% in 3 years. Now the same friends are saying the same thing to me as I add to my Nokia (NOK) shares at prices below $3 - not to mention when I increased my Bank of America (BAC) exposure when it fell below $5 last year. Many people say "you are just speculating," however, I wouldn't call buying shares of Nokia speculation, just like I wouldn't call buying shares of Ford as a speculation in 2009. Speculation is something different.
This is an example of speculating: XYZ is a drug company that never got FDA approval in its history. Currently it is working on a secret project and the company says that soon it will acquire FDA approval for its project and this project will be able to cure a very common but difficult-to-treat disease. Investors buy shares of this company without even knowing whether it will ever receive FDA approval and if the drug will really do what it says it will.
Another example of speculating: an oil company is searching oil in the desert. This will be the company's first attempt at finding oil, and if the company successfully locates oil, it will start production and become profitable. This may or may not happen. Investors buy the stocks of the company, hoping it finds oil.
Final example of speculating: a company does really badly, it hasn't made profit in years and it shows no signs of life or turnaround, so investors buy the company hoping that another company will buy it out as this is the only chance the company will ever survive.
However, this is not speculating: a well established international corporation with more than 130,000 employees and $40 billion in annual revenue realizes that there is stiff competition in the market and decides to go through restructuring. This restructuring costs the company money, time and other resources as expected from any restructuring. During this process, the company forms strong partnerships with a technology giant and a telecom giant, both of which give the company full backing. Also during this process, the company launches a product that gets overwhelmingly positive reviews from customers. Investing in this company's chances of returning to profitability is not speculating.
Let's take a time machine and look at some newspaper headlines regarding Ford from the second half of 2008 and first half of 2009. They will seem strikingly similar to today's headlines regarding Nokia.
"GM Sales Plunge 49%; Ford Down 40%"
"Ford, GM Report Massive Losses"
"GM, Ford report huge losses, worries about survival loom"
"GM, Ford burned through $14.6 billion..."
"Ford's second quarter a wreck"
"GM, Ford, Chrysler Face Bankruptcy Risk on Crisis, S&P Says..."
"Fitch cuts Ford deeper into junk on sales slump"
"S&P to cut GM, Ford deeper into junk territory "
Some may wonder why I give Ford as an example for Nokia as the two companies are in completely different industries. But they have much in common:
- 10 years ago, Nokia was often the brand that came to mind when someone mentioned "mobile phones" and Ford was often the brand that came to mind when someone mentioned "cars." Both companies had very strong brand names prior to entering into a deep crisis.
- Both companies had cash reserves, helping them cushion some of the hits they were taking. Ford's cash reserves saved it from a government bailout and Nokia's cash reserves are buying a few years for it to be able to complete its turnaround.
- Both companies saw their great brand name suffer as their finances were deteriorating. By 2008, everyone was talking about how Ford's products didn't meet customer needs anymore and how the company was far behind the competition. Now people say that Nokia is far behind the competition and its products don't keep costumer needs in mind.
- Both companies delivered high quality products while going through turnaround. Ford's products in 2009 and Nokia's current products (particularly Lumia 900) have been greatly welcomed by the customers. Interestingly, both companies signed partnerships with Microsoft (MSFT) during the process of turnaround.
- Both companies saw their bonds rated as "junk" during the process of turnaround. Ford's ratings have been upgraded very recently; however Nokia will have to wait a few years before that happens.
- Both companies lost about 90% of their market value during company turnaround.
Many people argue that Nokia is too late in the game as Apple and Android-based mobile device producers have already gained most of the smartphone market share in the world. This is obviously wrong, as the smartphone market is a very young market with a lot of growth potential remaining. In countries like China, and India, as well as continent of Africa, there are hundreds of millions of people who haven't been exposed to a smartphone at all.
Even if everyone in the world owned a smartphone, that would still leave room for more phones to be sold as the average lifetime of a mobile phone is a few years at best. Saying that Nokia is too late in the smartphone market to gain any significant market share is like saying "Apple (AAPL) is too late in making a TV as almost every household in the world already owns a TV."
Currently on Amazon (AMZN), Lumia 900 has 350 costumer reviews with average review having 5 stars. The phone received 308 five-stars, 20 four-stars and only 7 one-star. The reviews of the product are overwhelmingly positive. This reminds me of late 2009 when new Ford cars were launched and everyone was surprised and pleased at the same time with how much the cars of the company had improved in a matter of couple years. Today Ford is a cash cow and many don't question the company's success anymore.
I believe that Nokia will have a similar fate to Ford in the coming years.
Nokia downgraded by S&P after Samsung pushes past - Yahoo Finance
HELSINKI (AP) -- Standard and Poor's on Friday downgraded Nokia's credit rating by one notch and warned that it may reduce it again unless the company's performance improves.
The rating agency said it was lowering the Finnish company's long-term corporate credit rating to BB+ from BBB- and its short-term corporate credit rating to B from A-3.
The downgrade came after Nokia Corp. posted huge first-quarter losses and a 30 percent drop in sales and a report earlier Friday estimated Samsung Electronics Co. had overtaken it as the world's largest maker of mobile phones.
"We now expect Nokia to report significantly lower margins and cash flows in 2012 than we had previously expected," S&P said. "The outlook is negative, reflecting the possibility of a further downgrade if Nokia fails to stabilize revenues and margins and significantly cut its cash losses."
Nokia CFO Timo Ihamuotila said the company was in transition, a year after it teamed up with Microsoft Corp. to incorporate Windows software in its new handsets.
"Nokia is in the middle of a transformation program which encompasses every aspect of our business," Ihamuotila said, adding that the company was "implementing a decisive action plan" to improve growth.
"The main focus of these actions is on lowering the company's costs, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position, while bringing attractive new products to market," he said, but gave no details.
Nokia's share price closed down slightly at €2.74 ($3.62) in Helsinki.
Last week, Nokia announced one of its worst quarterly results ever, blaming tough competition for a €929 million ($1.2 billion) net loss as sales plunged, especially in the smartphone market. It said it expects no improvement in the second quarter.
The cell phone maker is fighting fierce competition in the top-end from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other makers using Google Inc.'s popular Android software, including Samsung and HTC of Taiwan. It is also being squeezed in the low-end by Asian manufacturers making cheaper phones, such as China's ZTE.
Boston-based Strategy Analytics said Friday that Samsung surpassed Nokia as the world's largest seller of cell phones by volume, grabbing a 25 percent global market share against Nokia's 22 percent.
The agency's report also said that Samsung had overtaken Apple as the largest maker of smartphones selling 44.5 million units against Apple's 35 million. Nokia dropped to third place with under 12 million sold in the quarter, Strategy Analytics said.
Fitch ratings agency recently downgraded Nokia to junk status, while Moody's has cut it to near junk status.
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Online:
www.nokia.com
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