Dear Nokia, Please Let Us Know
My buddy Zach over at SymbianInMotion has a great article about the recently announced N95 8GB US 3G version. While we in the US are most certainly glad that Nokia is finally starting to notice that we enjoy high-end handsets AND that we have a solid HSDPA network here, there’s a bit of a problem with the way they’re doing it currently.
With the N95 and now N95 8GB, Nokia has announced and released the Euro-3G version, with no mention of a US 3G-compatible version coming. Thus, we go out and buy the Euro version, suffering through the EDGE in an attempt to enjoy the best features. Then, only a few months later, Nokia, out of nowhere, announces that there is now a US 3G compatible model of the same phone! To make it worse, they’ve been selling the Euro-3G version in the 2 Flagship stores here in the U.S., without letting us know that there was a more capable version coming for the same price.
In a perfect world, we would get the US 3G version at the same time as the Euro 3G version. However, I realize this isn’t a perfect world, and similar to days of old, when there were 2 tri-band GSM versions of a phone, there will likely always be a delay between the 2 versions.
What Zach is asking for, and I am echoing, is simple notification. Nokia, when you announce a device, simply let us know whether or not a US 3G version will be available in the future. It’s ok for you to say, “The European 3G version will be out in Q2 2008, with a US 3G version following in Q3 2008.” At least that way we know, and we don’t go drop $750 on a phone that only gets data speeds from 3 years ago, when we could easily wait for 3-6 months and get one with the current HSDPA speeds.
I don’t expect for EVERY new Nseries and Eseries to get the US 3G treatment, but at least let us know about the ones that are going to, please. Thanks.
Nokia: “Why would we sell you one device when we can sell you two?”
i kinda at first give nokia the benefit of doubt because maybe they don’t know they will release a us version, they wait to see if it sells well first. But this doesn’t hold true with the n95, because the original sold so well. Add more memory and larger screen, and its a given that it will sell well since the first one did. So yes nokia is just being plain old greedy and stupid with these types of releases, ESPECIALLY with no simultaneous announcement of the usa version. Shameful.
Ricky,
While I agree that the above announcements should be more forthright (and specific), I specifically remember Nokia (at the N95-1 press conference) saying that a NA variant would follow soon after the N95’s release in Europe. It’s just that no one believed it at the time…
Now with that said, it would be awfully nice if they would give us specific release dates and business plans… Instead of some vague response to a journalists question such as: “Yes, there will be a North American version to follow in the near future.”
Cheers,
Phono
I completely agree with both you, Ricky, and Zack. In a perfect world we would all have one phone with all the bands, frequencies, and features which we need. Hopefully with AWS it would be easier to unite us all and have one device that works across the world…..(we can hope, can’t we)
but thats not exactly accurate. Nokia said a north american version would follow shortly, and it did, WITH 2100 HSDPA! thats the wholen point, nokia sold the euro version in the usa as the north american version. Then later they sold ANOTHER north american version, this time with att 3g. To remove fault from nokia, they would have had to never offer that uk version over here as the usa version. Its wrong, and it doesn’t matter whether nokia said it upon release or not. Devious.
Great posts, Ricky and Zach. You have captured my feelings exactly. I fell for the N95-1 at the Chicago flagship store, bought it not knowing much about it (although I knew it would only work on EDGE). I decided to return it within the 30-day period, willing to take a chance on a NAM model. As it turned out, the N95-3 did come out, I got it, and I am very happy with this device… However, this is getting borderline ridiculous: “OK, I guess we should go ahead and release an N95 8GB NAM variant too…” ARGH. I am passing on it as well, for the same exact reasons Zach and Ricky have posted.
One thing I simply do not get: If Nokia can release quad-band GSM devices, why not release tri-band UMTS/HSDPA devices? Isn’t Sony Ericsson doing this now (W760)? Seems to me this is a very attainable goal…
One more thing I thought of … I would add a plea to Nokia along the lines of the title of this post:
“Please Nokia, simplify”
Nokia, please start selling triband 3G models. That’s easier to sell (only one model) and you can use it anywhere!
Think about it man, Nokia selling the phone for a long time before. They have a market strategy. Consider that you are one of CEO of Nokia, then look at this page “http://www.nokia.com/A4126480″. I wouldn’t care about America region that much if I was CEO of Nokia. Think about yourself in the same situation of the person who ran the company for millions of people and they can’t fail. I personally like Nokia’s phone. I’ve been using it for 10 years and have no complain about which phone I bought. I just recently bought N95 8GB euro version. I still like it even though the data transfer is slow. There are a lot of great features. Think the other way around, how many computer literate person ratio in US compare to Japan or India. US is the country of business and opportunity, most of the people going to college for finance and business. They don’t really care about what is really going on in the world as long as they graduate and make six figures. One columnist from 2600 magazine wrote about how japanese uses cell phone and what they really offer as far as the plan and rate. On the other side of the world, they use phone for pleasure + business. What people in US are expecting for the phone is “Is this f…ing thing can make a call”. (Sorry about language, I quote it)
@william:
Yes, the handsets would be easier for us to use, but they would also be more expensive. Tossing out the soft- and hardware for one frequency and replaceing it with another is much easier than stuffing everything for every frecuency used somewhere on this planet into one handset.
Yeah- that’s a decent point Floriel- I’d just like to point out that Sony/Ericsson has managed to do it. What’s the Delay…? Hmmmm? All this talk of assaulting US market share full-force.. this is the course of action?
Not impressed. I fully voice my support of this- and I’ll be echoing Zach and Ricky’s posts today at my site as well. Cheers, fellas.
Sony/Ericsson has managed to do it BUT 1) at which price 2) with which impact on their margins? 3) with what impact on their market share in the US or world wide?
To try to answer 1) SE phones are generally overpriced - adding expensive components won’t help 2) lower margins - smart strategy? perhaps for a company desperately going after market share.. no wait, that was Moto, right? 3) they are about as non-existent here as Nokia are..