•Nokia re-positions to assume market leadership in smartphone segment
Ben Uzor Jr
Nigeria’s burgeoning broadband device market, valued at N245 billion by GSMA (a global body representing the interest of mobile operators) will witness stiff competition in coming months, as major phone makers jostle to expand the scope of the market by wrestling more users from computer makers, analysts say. According to the analysts, Laptops and PCs remain the primary devices for connecting to the internet but recent surveys have shown that more Nigerians will likely hook up to the internet via cheap smartphones. This, according to analysts, explains why major phone makers like Nokia, Research in Motion (RIM), and Samsung are in a race to bring in cheaper smartphone models into the market.
This battle for market leadership in the smartphone segment, according to analysts, is taking also the form of establishment of new local offices, aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns. Though, Nokia remains the number one firm in the global phone market with sales for the second quarter of 2011 reaching 88.5 million, its Symbian smartphone sales dropped significantly from 38.1 percent to 15.2 percent between Q2 2010 and Q2 2011. Samsung sales however increased significantly from 5.0 percent to 17.5 percent. To salvage the situation, world mobility leader, Nokia recently unveiled three mass-market smartphone models which will use a new version of its Symbian software.
In swift response, Samsung recently unveiled four new smartphone models under its Galaxy line, expanding its flagship product line to cheaper phones to tap growth in emerging markets such as Nigeria. Besides, rumours have also circulated for some time that Apple Incorporated will try to expand its iPhone offering to take in low-end buyers, as it did when it expanded into the cheaper end of the digital music player market with its iPod mini in 2004. Kenneth Omeruo, a telecoms analyst told BusinessDay that: “Smartphone manufacturers will continue to move down the value chain, to target the low-end segment and attract mass customers, especially those in Nigeria, India and China.”
Only recently, RIM launched five new BlackBerry smartphones running on the new BlackBerry 7 (BB7) software which offers mobile users a variety of designs to choose from and delivers the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity. Mary McDowell, vice president, mobile phones, Nokia Corporation, confirmed the launch of Nokia’s new devices to Business Day in an interview in Nairobi, adding that the Finnish firm still makes more phones than any other phone maker. According to her, strong distribution with brand value will provide ample time for Nokia to put its house in order. She said Nokia still has very strong presence in basic phone market especially in emerging markets like Nigeria.
“In the near term, we have got new releases of three Symbian devices with significantly enhanced user interface. This year, we will also be releasing the N9. Later, we will be bringing windows phone here. Windows phone will be shipped into some markets this year but not in Nigeria. “Research and development for the new devices are going on well. Our collaboration with Microsoft seems quite strong. People are flying back and forth between Seattle and Finland quite a bit. In addition to the device collaboration, there is also tremendous work going-on on the maps and location. The Nokia VP strongly believes that these efforts will assist the phone maker regain market leadership in the global smartphone market. On the other hand, RIM has seen a calamitous fall in sales – with the Canadian firm turning its focus to the emerging markets like Nigeria to increase revenue.
Business Day learnt that BlackBerry maker, RIM will establish a local office in Nigeria in the coming months, hopefully by December. Waldi Wepener, regional director, RIM also confirmed this in an interview with Business Day. He said that RIM will embark on a variety of activities in the area of marketing to accelerate growth in the market. “Smartphone penetration is growing here in Nigeria. For us, we are entering Nigeria at the right time and we strongly believe that with our strong product offering we can garner more market share in Nigeria’s smartphone market.
“As a business, we are aware that there is a need to tailor our offerings to meet local needs and market requirement. It is particularly important to gain local market knowledge by employing local Nigerian resources”, Wepener added. The growth of Nigeria’s broadband device market, according to industry analysts, is sustained by rising mobile phone penetration due to the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in 2011 as well as mobile network operator’s drive to generate more revenue from mobile broadband and data services owning to dwindling voice revenues.
check out my blog at www.benedictspace.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment