From emerging as the top cellphone maker in 1998, to completely overshadowing the then leader Motorola, Nokia has always made it big! Nokia in India has always created innovations like “Phone with a Torch”, “Made for India” phone. But why does recently Nokia announced that they might not have a great 2012. Has the Lumia bug bitten Nokia badly? Will Nokia pay heavily for the change of identity from Symbian to Java to Windows? VARINDIA, studies the current market sentiments, especially the Indian consumer's behaviour while buying handsets.
Nokia started big when they announced their partnership with Microsoft. This was followed by the launch of Lumia 900. The Lumia 900 got a very positive response, but it did not last long.
Lumia Bug bites Big!
Nokia's flagship WP7 device, the Lumia 900 which became recently available to AT&T users in the U.S., developed a major bug. Many users started reporting loss of connectivity to the LTE network as the connections would randomly cut out. This bug bothered many of the Indian users of Lumia 900 too.
The company issued an apology letter to those who had already bought the device. It read, "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. As a gesture of good will, every individual who has already purchased a Nokia Lumia 900 - or who will purchase one between now and April 21st - will receive a $100 credit to their AT&T bill from Nokia. We believe the Nokia Lumia 900 is unlike any other smartphone on the market. It represents an exceptional balance of power, ease of use and value, all wrapped in one of the most stylish, striking designs ever."
But when it entered the Indian market, Nokia did not ignore the troubled consumers here either. Delhi-based channel partner, Vijay Gupta, Proprietor, Vigitech Telecom, shared, “We exchanged faulty handsets with the new ones as provided by vendor. Not only this, we also gave away Nokia Bluetooth accessories to the aggrieved customers too as a compensation.”
It was a software issue, in short, a memory management issue, which led to loss of data connectivity in some cases. As a proactive and prudent measure, the company announced to have already identified the issue, and has developed a solution for it as well. Existing owners of the Lumia 900 had two options to get the update. The first one is updating it via Zune, which is possible only after connecting your phone to the PC. Another is to simply exchange the phone at any AT&T store for a new Lumia 900 till April 21. On the condition of anonymity, Chandigarh- based channel partner informed that though, in the U.S., the company offered a $100 airtime credited to the bill of the potential AT&T customers with a condition related to the date of purchase (before April 21), but why no such scheme was announced here for the Indian consumers, instead a gift of Bluetooth headset, is a million dollar question.
Other challenges
To make the volumes happen, the company needs to sell more phones, for which you need more apps, but to attract app developers, you need to sell more phones. There are about 80,000 applications that owners of models running Windows Phone can enjoy, which is a drop in the ocean compared with the half a billion available to Apple and Android users.
Talking local, we see consumers complaining about Nokia handsets. Sharib Suhail, a Delhi University student who got the Nokia 5800 as a gift on scoring highest in CBSE shared how badly he was upset when his Nokia Music Express used to hang every now and then while flaunting in front of his friends. “I also could not fully use the OVI music app. Even on approaching the Mobile Store counter I was directed to the Nokia service centre which was a long chase and finally I got rid of the phone.”
Amit Sandle, Proprietor, Him Telecom, shared, “We used to handle Nokia business which had a demand from across the sections of the society because of long-lasting performance phone, but today every third Nokia handset stays at the service centre more than its customers' hand.”
Vijay also adds that brands like Samsung offer an interesting option of retailing, “Samsung Exclusive Zones”. This means retailers would stock 75% Samsung and rest keep multi-brands in their counters.
Somebody's Loss is Somebody Else's Gain
Aneja Communications has been a Nokia Priority Dealer for about three years. Sanjeev Aneja, Proprietor, informs, “Initially, we had walk-ins whom we are turning into potential buyers, but slowly we started witnessing walk-ins in terms of complaints. With issues in back-end support also we had to call off our association with the principal, and now run a multi-brand outlet.”
Nokia seems to have reported a dip in its sales quarter on quarter globally. The sales of their first Windows Phone 7 device, i.e., the Nokia Lumia 800, didn't really fare as was hoped and even Lumia 900 also could not achieve more than hitting the headlines because of a bug. Nokia is likely to lose its position to rival Samsung Electronics, in the first quarter according to the market buzz.
The sales of Windows Phones by Nokia have so far failed to dent the dominance of Apple and Google (Android) claims the Indian telecom channel fraternity. Amit, who once used to do 80 per cent of Nokia's business, now focusses on brands like BlackBerry, HTC and Samsung and Apple. “In the past 15 months, I have seen Nokia losing charm at the hands of competitors like BlackBerry, Samsung and HTC, not only at the corporate level but also the youth. I now happily run a RIM experience store.”
Paromita Deb Chaudhary, an MBA aspirant from Shillong, says, “BBM is so much fun to use and stay connected with your friends. We are 24x7 connected to our friends on BBM and even discuss our class lectures there.”
Last but not the least, HTC is slowly strengthening its foothold in the market. HTC “Sensation” and “Explorer” are a big hit amongst the youth. Not only this, there is a so-called silent market player LG Electronics who is also eyeing a niche segment with “Optimus”. There is no big hit by Nokia in the smartphone category currently, and, as always, Nokia is still struggling in the smartphone race. Its dominance in the lower end of the market has allowed it to keep its rank as the world's largest cellphone maker by volume. But with brands like Samsung and BlackBerry significantly dropping their prices and the increase in the buying capacity of Indian consumers, Nokia's successful strategy is under threat.
Apple's iPhone was unveiled in 2007, which kick-started the smartphone boom. Its sales are affected a little because Indian wireless carriers, which started 3G networks this year, have yet to offer nationwide services fast enough to take advantage of iPhone features. Still, iPhone is doing comparatively well as it has a brand recall.
Road ahead...
Though it is a difficult phase for Nokia, but the time is good for the consumers with so many options at their disposal. Nokia has already crossed the “crest”, but would it be able to start a new crest at the end of the ongoing “trough”, only time could tell. Would we see Nokia re-entering the market with a big bang or would we see Nokia joining the list of predecessors like Siemens and Motorola.
Syeda beenish
