Thoughts on Mass-Customization of Mobiles
We’re all aware of the N76 design contest. Hopefully you’ve all voted for the best design of them all, the Camo N76. I’m sure you’ve spent a few minutes (or hours) browsing through the other designs, as well, just like I have. There’s some pretty awesome designs in there, from all over the world.
This got me to thinking…we used to have Xpress-On covers for our Nokia phones. You remember those, cheap plastic that squeaked ALOT and practically invited dust to live under your screen. Then the cheap knock-offs came around at the mall for $5 with anything you could possibly think of on it. Nokia, I think, noticed that these covers were cheapening their product, as we haven’t had an Xpress-On mobile in quite a while.
However, it’s obvious that people love to customize their devices. I’ve
switched the housing on my N73, and I’ve even shopped around and found
that I could switch my N95 to the Warm Graphite color for ~$50. But
what if Nokia got into Mass Customization? Alot of companies allow you
to customize your product online and then they ship it to you. Nike
does this, as do other shoe manufacturers.
To be clear, I’m not talking about features, I’m talking about the
casing. If Nokia can do this contest with the N76, why not have an
opportunity for an extra $10 be able to upload your own design for
whatever new mobile device they announce? I would bet that they would
have a KILLER response from the public, and also sell more devices
direct, rather than through grey market.
What do you think? Would you like to be able to login to Nokiausa.com
and design your own colors and patterns to be on your next mobile?
Would you pay a little extra for the privilege? Do you think the resale
value would increase or decrease?
Don’t even add resale value cos you cant sell a customized phone so well. fact is you may like but the potential buyers may not. even if they do, you have inherently reduced its quality and as such your price would be lower.
I would put the original casing back on before i sell it. For one thing, i don’t think i could give another person a design that means something to me personally.
customization of phones is a HUGE market, and one users are willing to pay for; ring tone sales have proven that. And I don’t think customizing a phone, if done by the manufacturer would drop value, though it may make it more difficult to find a buyer (or easier if enough people like your design)
I actually would love it if Nokia let us design our own covers. I would pay extra to have my own unique phone, unlike any others. I am not sure about the resale value increasing or decreasing but I bet a lot of girls would go crazy over the idea of being different and that would boost their sales.
Nokia made it really easy to change the shell of the 3650.
They also let you design your own back cover of the 3220.
It would be nice if they did suc things more often with the newer phones.
Mass Customization is currently limited to printing. The next step is to allow users to design geometry. We are working on that. http://genometri.com/DIY/