N95-3: Has the Handset (Marketing) Revolution Begun?
So I sat down to right a full on review of the N95-3 (the US 3G variant of the original N95-1), but stopped myself when I realized that much of the review would simply be a rehash of reviews of the original. While there have been some incredible improvements made, the biggest of course being the RAM upgrade, it’s still basically the same phone (not that this is a bad thing!).
What I’d like to talk about instead is the sheer power that this phone has from a marketing standpoint in the US market.
Let me start you off with a little personal anecdote that, I think,
illustrates exactly how much potential impact this phone has. Last
night my company hosted our annual reseller conference, where a lot of
the resellers who sell our software fly out here to Seattle for product
training, new product announcements, etc. As a part of this event
every year we also host a big bash where everyone, employees and
reseller partners alike, let their hair down and have a good time. The
nice thing about the company I work for is that everyone, from my CEO
down to the greenest new hire developer or sales rep, work hard and
play hard. It’s almost an unofficial company motto!
Well, at our event last night we had hired as entertainment a company called Pure Cirkus
(who were pretty cool by the way). They are basically a mash-up of
your traditional Circus performances, Cirque de Sole, Vegas Burlesque,
etc. So I’m standing by our Marketing Director who is diligently
taking pictures and video on her Canon Point and Shoot as the first
round of the evenings entertainment unfolds. At the same time, I was
also taking photos and footage on my N95 (and a number of others were
taking photos on their camphones as well). See an example video below
(forgive my shaky hands, I’d already had a couple vodka tonics by this
point):
So later on I’m talking to our marketing director, and we are comparing photos and videos, and she was astounded to find that the quality from my cameraphone was the same as her Canon!!!
Granted, she’s not using the newest device (she also had her Rebel
D-SLR with her, which my N95 couldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, but
that’s to be expected). We started talking, and she’s thinking very
seriously about getting an N95-3 now, especially after I showed her
that some of my images were already posted on Flickr!
So later on in the evening, I was talking to a co-worker and one of his
dealers. My co-worker is a very savvy guy who knows quite a bit about
phones himself (he’s a Windows Mobile guy, but I’ll forgive him for
that). His dealer was using just your run of the mill average Samsung
handset. So as we are talking, he asked about my phone (which my
co-worker had been giving me crap for spending so much on). I took it
out, showed him the browser, the camera, the video footage, etc … he
was blown away by it, and admitted he’d been thinking about buying the
iPhone anyway so he might look into this instead.
Now, do I think that either will end up with the N95? Maybe, maybe
not. But think about the impact that this phone has on people in the
American market, where a majority of people are just discovering MMS
let alone all the other great things we the geeks do with our
phones on a daily basis. The iPhone, love it or hate it, has started
to open people’s eyes to the possibilities of mobile technology. The
N95 has the potential to take it a step further and show people how
much of a lifestyle device the phone can become.
Now, why do I focus on the N95-3? What makes it different then the
original N95? (Which was, after all, sold in the U.S. in the same
manner). Two reasons: 1.) the iPhone has pushed the marketing
envelope, and Nokia is responding in kind, and 2.) the N95-3 is the
strongest phone that Nokia has made for American market ever and that cannot be understated. Even for me on T-Mobile, who can’t take advantage of the HSDPA (which Jonathan Greene has been simply raving about the past few days), the sheer amount of memory, fast UI, camera, video, WiFi, browser… the list goes on and on.
Now realistically do I think that this phone will have the same
market share as the iPhone? I really don’t, for a few reasons. First
off the price point is nearly double the iPhone. Second, while I
admire Nokia’s push for carrier independent phones the American market
is still woefully dependent upon carriers for marketing. And third,
the iPhone was one of the most masterful marketing efforts in the
history of gadgetry, and was unrelenting for weeks before it was
released.
But what Nokia HAS done with this phone, and the associated
marketing around it, is stepped up to the plate to do battle in a way
that no other company has (with the possible exception of Motorola with
their RAZR variants… while they aren’t half the phone that the N95 or
the iPhone are their marketing was effective as hell). Did Apple
change the game? Yes, in that handset marketing and not just carrier
marketing has become the new paradigm.
It’s an exciting time to be a mobile enthusiast in the US. Apple,
Nokia, Motorola… bring in Samsung and Sony Ericsson (who has very
little interest in the US market apparently), and bring on the high end
handsets, and we’ve got one hell of a good competition coming! I
would LOVE to see a time when buying a new phone meant walking into a
retail outlet, not a carrier’s store, to pick out which worked for
you. I’d love to see a time when buying a handset was like buying a
computer — you buy your laptop then decide later whether to go with
Qwest DSL or Comcast for your connectivity.
For those of us that have been "in the know" about unlocked, carrier
free handsets for the last few years, I have a feeling our ranks are
going to start swelling. And I’m hoping that our favorite little
Finnish company can be at the forefront of that!
Matt C.
I’ve been following the ‘95 since announcement and erroneously ordered a -1 a couple of weeks ago. I really like it and fortunately I will be able to return it due to the vendor’s 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
The confusing part is that NokiaUSA seems puzzled about which version they are selling.. when I asked if my order would be a 95-3, the attendant went offline for 2 minutes and responded that I would receive a Black N95 8GB US version..
We’ll see Tuesday what they’re really shipping.
Good stuff. A couple of things could conceivably also happen
1) A carrier will pick the N95-3 up. With carrier subsidies it would probably be prices very close or cheaper than iPhone.
2) A carrier does not pick up N95-3, but they will pay attention to the N95-3’s good sales even without subsidies, and will eventually pick up other N-Series devices (perhaps N81 and N82 already). However, Nokia refuses to make it an exclusive deal and continues to offer them unlocked as well.
In any event, I don’t think selling N-Series unlocked through a big marketing and retail push harms Nokia’s relationship with carriers too much, as they are not carrying these high end devices anyway, and if they start to do so, there is no reason why Nokia would not continue to sell unlocked as well.
Yes, those Nokia guys were serious and honest, and right (hey, the run one of the most successful companies in the world, so that should not be a surprise) when they welcomed the iPhone and said it is probably good for Nokia and the business as a whole.
I’m sorry to say that I don’t think your dream will become real for quite some time.
Phones are just too expensive, especially the high-end ones, for people to buy without some kind of “subsidy” from the carriers.
In Europe you can buy your phone at a retail store, but unless you have, lets say 700€, to spend right away on a n95, you usually buy the phone at a carriers store and accept that in the long run the phone will be more expensive.
I think a lot of changes would have to take place in the US market for people to walk into a retail store to buy a phone at full price.
1) GSM would have to be adopted across the board to eliminate any confusion most people have understanding that they need a CDMA handset for one set of carriers and a GSM handset for another. The first time Billy Bob tries to activate his iphone on Verizon, and is told he can’t that will end buying sim free handsets.
2) 99.9% of the people in Wisconsin (where I am from) tell me their phone is great since it makes calls. That is it, people are not going to pay more than $100 if all they do is make phone calls on their device.
I can’t wait for the day when the cell carrier is nothing but a set of pipes (as it should be). But I think we are quite a ways away from that. It is extremely frustrating buying a handset from a carrier who has crippled it for their own benefit. I will be buying sim free (probably Nokia) from now on.
The important thing to remember is that this isn’t targeted towards the mass market. Nokia has said flat out that they’re not targeting Mom, Dad, and Joe Blow with their unlocked campaign. They realize that it’s a long road to get those types of consumers to buy a phone at retail. Thus, the price isn’t such a factor. Granted, it can’t be astronomical, but even with the N95-3 at $700, I can count 5-6 people on my hand, bloggers and not, who have bit the bullet and bought it. Nokia’s not looking for the masses in America. They have that in Europe. In America, they’re starting with the fashionistas and techies. And it’s working on us. I know several bloggers who possibly could have waited a while and gotten the N95-3 for free decide to go ahead and just buy one. To me, that’s HUGE. That’s equivalent to the iPhone, when you have people who would typically get technology for free going out and buying it at full retail.
I’m in the US, and have just purchased a Nokia 6120 Classic, unlocked. I will use it with T-Mobile, the carrier I’ve been with for five years. But this time, I won’t incur a new service contract, which feels great. N95 is too expensive for me, but I too hope for the day when phones won’t be so tied (and sometimes hampered) by carriers.
The price differential between the iPhone and the 3G N95 will not bode well for Nokia. The publicity about Apple reducing the price of the iPhone is the buzz as the holiday shopping season begins. I’m surprised Nokia did not consider that and offer its new phone at a lower price.
Matt, it is unusual to see someone speak neutrally of Qwest. (BTW, you need to change ‘right’ to ‘write’ in the first graf.)
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Sent from my iPhone.
Nothing prevents Nokia from coming up with promotions in quick order, in particular by provind some with lower price to the retailers with the understanding that they put them out at a discounted price, thereby avoiding complaints directly at Nokia from early adopters..
The N95-3 has major hardware advantage when compared to the Iphone. Simply put, if you want more in a phone you pay for it otherwise just buy the Iphone. Peace!!!
Now that the N95-3 has hit the market (soon to be followed by the N95 8GB), Nokia needs to start educating their retailers, who seem to be confused by the differences between those products and the old Euro N95 that was sent here. There could be a lot of unhappy people trying to connect their N95-1 or N95 8GB to 3G, or wondering why their N95-1 has such a weak battery. The best bet is for Nokia to offer incentives on the N95-1 to get them off the shelves quickly enough. Of course, they should have just changed the name to N96 or something similar. That said, the N95-1 enjoyed a fair amount of success without advertising, so that bodes well for the N95-3 and N95 8GB.
Nokia now will be letting alot Europeans down if they just release the N95-3 in America just because Apples taken the market from them,but i hope i will be available to buy the N95-3 on the internet an its o.k to use it europe as well ,Nokia should have released the N95-3 as the first model they released but they always seem to do this release a first version then find out about it flaws the release a improved version letting its customers down,i had the N73 then a couple of months later the N73 Music Edition came out an improved version thats why the N95-3 as been made because they realised they put a very weak battery on the N95 an was getting its self a bad name by doing this an if its not available for everyone to buy Nokias going to get its self in alot of trouble by just letting the Americans buy the new N95-3
I think people would love to buy the N95-3 in America, especially with the RAM upgrade and increased battery life, but if there’s a marketing revolution going on, I’m afraid I’m missing it.
Iphone/pod ads are all over the place. You can’t watch any TV channel anywhere without seeing a couple Apple ads, but I’ve yet to see one single Nokia ad.
Nokia will never be as successful as Apple in market penetration as long as they’re hiding and waiting for users to come to them.