Nokia Targets Selling Half Billion Mobile Phones in 2010

Now, majority of people on earth (excluding children) perhaps have a mobile phone set. However, there is still room for growth in Asia and that is why, I am not surprised to see the target of selling 500 million mobile phone sets in 2010 in the whole world. There is still a lot of room for growth in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. All of these countries are in Asia. I think that Nokia is the market leader in these countries. The company has market share of nearly 40% worldwide.  

Rick Simonson of Nokia recently stated this goal. He said, "There is definitely not enough room for more than 4-5 operating systems. Scale is critical. For instance, Palm's OS is very good, but with less than 1 percent of the global volumes, it won't be too appealing to developers."

Recently, Rick Simonson gave an interview to Economic Times and there he said it. He is Nokia's mobile phone unit chief.

Nokia is falling behind smart phone segment but it is doing very well in the concept phone segment. I personally think that Nokia will be able to meet its target and sell nearly half million handsets this season. 

LG takes third spot selling 100 million mobile phones in 2008

Renowned South Korean electronics company LG took the third spot in mobile sales. According to JongAng Daily, the company sold 100 million mobile phones around the world. LG took the third spot in terms of sales volume removing Motorola who has long been acquiring the third position. Motorola sold 99.9 million around the world. Finnish mobile company Nokia is in the first position as usual.

Crave reports:

Nokia, of course, was the top dog. Preliminary numbers show that the Finnish giant sold 470 million handsets in 2008, putting it far ahead of Samsung, which claimed the number two spot with 200 million handset sold. Nokia shows no sign of losing its No. 1 status, even though Samsung pumps phones out nonstop.

The ongoing economic recession has affected the mobile company. Compared to previous years, sales figures are not so good. Overall the year 2008 has been a time of evolution for mobile companies not revolution. Let’s see what happens in 2009.

Leading Mobile Phone Makers Joining Content Production Rat Race?

Because of the ongoing economic recession, the mobile phone makers are worried whether they can sustain their growth in countries like India and China. The leading mobile phone makers have witnessed tremendous growth in the last one decade thanks to mainly the emerging markets of Asia but things are not rosy at all at this moment as people are now worried about the future. So the leading mobile phone makers are now total is focused on developing new strategies and their only goal is to retain the existing consumers for the time being. In a bid to do so, they are now focusing on content creation that will give entertainment to the consumers.

I am not surprised by this move because it is really a very tough time and it is one is now trying their best to survive.

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G1 Mobile Phone in Germany for just 1 Euro?

It is not any catchy advertisement headline but there is a catch- you will have to subscribe two years of T-Mobile service in Germany to get G1 Mobile Phone book for just one Euro. I’m sure that many German consumers would be very happy with this news but the only problem is that it is the time of economic recession and many people in European countries like Germany are not seriously thinking of buying new and expensive mobile phone sets. Apple is really lucky because when it introduced iPhone in the German market it received good response as people were not so much worried about their future like now.

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Sony Ericsson posted loss. The company is undergoing massive re-structure

In the fourth quarter of 2008, famous mobile phone maker, Sony Ericsson observed a loss of $245 million. The ongoing economic recession badly affected the company’s profit. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the company posted a profit of $495 million. Compared to this figure, $245 million shows a drastic drop in its profit. Due to job loss and economic difficulty, people are not spending much money on mobile phones. The major weakness of Sony Ericsson is that the company does not produce any entry level mobile phones like Samsung, Nokia or Motorola. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Sony Ericsson shipped 24.2 million phones. Compared to 2007, this is a 21% drop. Dick Komiyama, President, Sony Ericsson said:

"In economic terms, 2008 has been a tumultuous year with world markets experiencing a serious downturn,……We foresee a continued deterioration in the marketplace in 2009, particularly in the first half."

Recently, the company released Xperia X1 and another 8.1-megapixel camera phone but they failed to capture consumers’ attention. It also started to offer a new “food-ordering service” within fast-food restaurants called “EZ Pass environment.”

It is not only Sony Ericsson that is suffering from this problem. Other mobile companies are also expecting a contraction in the cell-phone market. In order to survive these tough economic times, Sony Ericsson is undergoing a massive re-structure. It already laid-off 2000 employees and the president said that more people would be removed from the company. It is currently working to achieve a cost saving goal of $398 million.

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Samsung F480 Hugo Boss Phone Comes with a Stunning Design

Samsung F480 Hugo Boss phone is a design oriented phone set that features an excellent design with the same features of Samsung F480 phone set. This is the latest high end product from Samsung’s volt. Samsung F480 Hugo Boss phone looks gorgeous with some excellent features.

The phone offers 2.8-inch touchscreen display, a quality 5 megapixel camera and supports HSDPA for high-speed wireless data. It also comes with Bluetooth facility and an integrated media player.

Htlounge reported:

The core features found in the Hugo Boss Samsung phone include a large 2.8-inch touchscreen display, an incredible 5 megapixel camera, full HSDPA support for high-speed wireless data, Bluetooth, and an integrated media player. The TouchWiz user interface has been included as well, but Hugo Boss probably added its own dash of style as well.

Surprisingly, the Hugo Boss Samsung F480 doesn’t carry that much of a premium over the non Hugo Boss phone. It’ll retail for 479 Euro, which isn’t exactly cheap, but you can probably find some Hugo Boss clothing that costs a lot more than that.

Samsung F480 Hugo Boss phone seems to be an attractive package with stunning look. However, the price tag seems to be a bit higher for the middle class users to afford. Still, the gorgeous appearance and excellent features of the handset might convince you to spend that amount to become an owner of Samsung F480 Hugo Boss phone set.

Mobile Phone: The Future is in Touch Screen?

In 2007, Apple took the mobile phone industry by surprise with its iPhoe. What was so interesting was that Apple was not a mobile phone company and still, the main focus of Apple is not mobile phone. Why iPhone became so successful? One of the main reasons was that it had touch screen facility. Now, in 2008, it seems that many companies are investing a lot on touch screen technology. Google is after it. Samsung is after it. BlackBerry hopes that BlackBerry storm will put a serious challenge to the dominance of iPhone.

So, the future of touch screen phones look to be very bright indeed. Well, one problem of touch screen technology is that it is still expensive and most consumers cannot afford it. Mobile phone is a device that has already reached more than half of the world population. So, it will take time for touch screen sets to become popular.

 

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Nokia: Bad forecast for Mobile Phone Demand

The ongoing global economic recession is affecting every sector. Just think of the continual reduction in oil price in the international market. $55.00 is now the current on a price and there is strong possibility that it can even go lower. So, I’m not surprised to see that Nokia has stated that there would be a decrease in demand of mobile phone in the fourth quarter. But the only reason for the slowdown of the month of mobile phone is the global economic recession and there are very few chances that this economic conditions will improve in the short term.

Xinhua reported:

Nokia says global demand for mobile phones would be lower in the fourth quarter than previously forecast because of the international economic slowdown, according to reports Friday from Helsinki.

Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, estimated mobile phone volumes in the fourth quarter would be approximately 330 million, lower than its previous forecast.

This is a surely bad news for mobile phone makers but I think that there is still a lot tougher room for growth in the mobile phones sector because most people in Asia and Africa still do not own a mobile phone set. But the good thing is that most people do not consider mobile phone a luxury item anymore for desktop. Rather, they feel that it is a part of everyday necessity and an integral part of communication in human lives in our time.

Holiday Season 2008: Google phone G1 vs BlackBerry Storm vs iPhone

There is the fear of global economic recession and slowdown. Still, life goes on and The holiday season is there. One of the best things to buy in holiday season is perhaps mobile phone. In the western countries, mobile phone is now a very attractive gadget to give and buy and get as a Christmas gift. Last year, Apple’s iPhone was very popular and was perhaps the most attractive Christmas gift for many people. This time, iphone is going to face stiff competition from BlackBerry Storm and Google phone G1.

Telegraph wrote:

The G1, which runs Google's Android operating system - designed to turn the phone into a pocket computer, will hit the shops on Thursday. T-Mobile, which has the exclusive rights to sell the phone in the UK, will open its flagship Oxford Street store in the early hours of the morning so commuters can snap up the phone on the way into work.

Customers queued through the night outside T-mobile's New York store when it was launched in America on Tuesday.

I’m really excited to see the prospect of an intense competition between these three mobile phone sets. I do not know who will be the winner. Do you have any idea?

Skyfire Browser and Nokia Phone

Few months ago Skyfire browser caused a lot of buzz in the media world. You know that many people are not so happy with browsing internet in their mobile phone sets. Skyfire was targeted for this market. When iPhone came to the market, many people expected that it would solve this problem, but it did not happen and in the end many people felt frustrated. Now, let us see if Skyfire can make a difference for mobile phone users.

TechCrunch reported:

Skyfire launched on Windows Mobile, but as of today it is also available in a private beta for Nokia phones running Symbian’s S60 operating system. The first 200 TechCrunch readers to sign up for the beta here will get invites (enter invite code: Tcrunch).

For more information, go to the TechCrunch.

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Provoke showcased Nokia's future sets in New York Design Week

Provoke, a reputed design firm, has designed the future phone set models for Nokia that are being showcased at the New York Design Week. Provoke brought three models: Express, Feel and Share. Scenta.co.uk reports:

Where as Nokia's Design Studio event in London last month focused upon eco-friendly offerings, the event stateside saw models which you can really make your own.

The most notable three concepts are called ?Express?, ?Feel? and ?Share?.

The Express is all about personal, (yes you've guessed it) expressions, which means, in basic terms, users can customise the interface, or even the colour of their phone.

Say the designers: "The pace and intensity of visual contrast between the different states can be customised to suit personal liking". Right.

According to the designers of the phone sets, they offer ‘real physical communication.’ I looked at the three sets. The ‘Feel’ looked a bit weird. I did not feel like I am looking at a mobile phone set. Anyway, the ‘Share’ is like a mini mp3 player hanging out from your side pocket (increasing physical communication!!). Finally, ‘Express’ is a ladies phone because the color is red and pink. Till now, I haven’t seen any guy with a pink mobile phone. Did you see anyone?

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China 3G Telephony: Waiting for Olympic Games

You know that there are less than 100 days for the Beijing Olympics 2008. Normally, it should not have any relationship with 3G telephony but it seems that 3G telephony system in China has now got a very important relationship with Olympics 2008. In fact, China is a later comer in 3G telephony and until now, hardly any telephone users have this 3G mobile phone facility. Now, China is planning to give 3G system to 10 cities, but the users of these 10 cities will have to wait until Olympic is over.

PC World wrote:

As China's homegrown 3G technology, TD-SCDMA began its latest round of trials in April, in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang and Xiamen, with a total of 20,000 users. China Mobile, which is offering the service and operating the trial, did not say how long it would last. Although trials of TD-SCDMA began in 2005, a commercial rollout will still not ready by August.

Well, it is not very nice to see that China is a late maker in the 3G system. In fact, China now has the largest market in mobile phone and all the major companies in the world are present in China. Still, I think that it is better late than never and I am happy for the mobile phone users of China.

Top 5 Mobile Phone Companies: How they are Doing?

Did you know that of the top 5 mobile phone companies in the world now, 2.5 companies are from Asia? If you did not know this information then no problem. Read the whole entry and you will came to know about it. Since, this is a blog about Asian Business therefore, I am excited with this news. Interesting thing is that Korean companies are now coming forward and dominating in the mobile phone sector. Well, the other half is non Asian and I am talking about all the 5 top names in Mobile Phone world today.

1. Nokia: Nokia has around 40% market share in the world now. Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is a Finnish company and it has continued to impress everyone year after year. Nokia is very strong in Asia and you can be quite sure that mobile phone industry will witness massive growth in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia (together they have over 1.5 billion population) for years to come as mobile phone penetration is not even 50% in these countries. Unless, something terribly goes wrong for the company, Nokia will surely dominate in the mobile phone market for quite some time. It seems that Nokia has by default the first position and other companies have to try for the second position.

2. Samsung: What makes me very interested about Samsung is that it is a very diversified company. I mean that Samsung Group is engaged in different kinds of business sectors. You know that Nokia is totally focused on telecommunication sector but Samsung produces many items. In fact, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEO:005930) is a part of Samsung Group and even Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Produces a wide range of products- not just mobile phone sets. Thus it shows that Samsung has a strong and good management team who are good at their business. One thing that Samsung has tried to do in the last few years is that to offer a wide range of mobile phone sets. Samsung also is strong in R&D.

3. Motorola: I guess that many of you did not expect Motorola to be here in the third position. Motorola is having a tough time. First of all, the company is finding it very difficult to make profit. In Q4 2007, Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) suffered over $1 billion loss in the mobile phone handset business. To add insult to injury, Motorola lost around 9% of market share (from 18.4% in 2007 to 9.7% now) in the world. In the last one year, Motorola slipped a lot and fell behind Samsung and became third largest mobile phone maker. Motorola is traditionally strong in the US market. It is still doing well in the US market. However, I think that this is the main problem for the company. The US market is already over saturated and last year, iPhone got all the media attention not any model of Motorola. Another problem is that both Samsung and LG have put up a strong fight against Motorola in the US market.

4. LG: In 2008, LG seems to be the emerging giant in mobile phone world. Only 2-3 years ago, many people in the mobile phone industry did not consider LG as a top class player. Well, this has changed a lot in 2008. LG is now the 4^th largest name in mobile phone industry. LG has overtaken Sony Ericsson. The main strength of LG is perhaps in its ability to produce a lot of models at a short time. LG has also taken the Asian market seriously. LG has invested a lot in Indian market in the last two years. At the same, LG is doing well in the US market too. The same goes for Samsung. These two Korean companies are performing both in the rich American market and not so rich Asian market. LG is also investing heavily in R&D and while Motorola failed to make any profit, LG saw its profit soaring in mobile handset business.

5. Sony Ericsson:Neither Sony nor Ericsson now makes any mobile phone set. Rather, the joint venture company, Sony Ericsson produces handsets. Sony Ericsson is famous to many Tennis fans because it is the sponsor of Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and you know that WTA is the place for some of the most beautiful and popular female players on earth (like Sharapova and Ivanovic). So, Sony Ericsson should not have any problem about branding and visibility. That is why, I am surprised to see that LG could surpass Sony Ericsson. Well, it seems that Sony Ericsson will face a tough time in future and it may follow the example of Motorola. By the way, I said 2.5 of the top 5 mobile phone companies are Asian because Sony Ericsson is half Asian (Japanese Sony) and half European.

Four months of 2008 have passed. I am not sure if there would be any major change in the ranking of these 5 companies in the rest of the year. There is a slim possibility that LG can overtake Motorola and become number 3 mobile phone handset makers in the world.

Will it happen? What do you think?

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