Nokia Updates Old-Timer, Shafts The U.S. - Again
News today is that the venerable Nokia N73 imaging handset has received YET ANOTHER firmware update. I believe that firmly positions the N73 as the most updated S60 handset ever. What makes this sting even more is that there are still countless owners of the N95-3 who haven’t yet seen an update. Oh, that’s right. Nokia sees the importance of making a US 3G capable model, and also sees the importance of making sure the other two European-focused N95 models are nicely updated with Demand Paging, Flash Lite 3, and Web Runtime Support, and full support for the Active Standby plugin on the newly graduated Share Online, as well as a handy icon in the camera application for uploading. But the N95-3? Eh, the U.S. doesn’t matter anyways.
For you N73 hold-outs, congratulations. You have yet another firmware update (v4.0808.4.2.2) to enjoy. Frankly, I don’t know why, though. I had the N73 right when it came out and updated the thing 3-4 times, with the last firmware I used being rock solid. I’m sure the new firmware is continuing to make the N73 N-Gage compatible.
Nokia, here’s my opinion. If you’re going to make a US 3G handset, SUPPORT IT. Otherwise, don’t bother. The N75 suffered the same fate. In fact, other than the latest AT&T-branded firmware, I don’t think the N75 has gotten ANY post-launch firmware love in the unbranded form. The N95-3 is currently the red-headed bastard child of the N95 product line, and it shows precisely how much concern you guys have for products designed specifically for this market. PseudoFinn over at NokiUsers.net and Mark Guim over at TheNokiaBlog.com are also quite upset.
I’m real upset. The Nokia N95-3 NAM was officially for sale on September 26th, 2007. That was over 5 months ago, with nary a update, save for a ‘bugfix’ one. The N95-2 (8GB) was officially on sale on October 15, 2007, and has since been updated more than once, with more than just simple bug fixes. What’s going on?!
Couldn’t agree more! Let’s think about all the Northern Americans that bought an N95-1 when it was originally launched, and all the pains they went through as an early adopter. Then fast forward some months later when a variant was released to bring 3.5G to NA, and the sale of more N95s, and many of those NAM N95-1 users took the loss on eBay to update- only to see the N95-1 be brought up to speed (literally and figuratively) with a wealth of feature updates, while the N95-3 withers away into obscurity as far as the firmware team is concerned.
As a N95-3 user, I’m gutted… AGAIN.
Come on Nokia!
Grateful I didn’t shell out $500+ for an N95. Sad…. At least my bug ridden N75 was free from AT&T.
how many N95 8GB’s have been sold, how many N95-1’s have been sold, how many N95-3’s have been sold? they need to prioritize and NAM just isn’t a priority for them right now. will they ever care about NAM? hard to say, i would rather they continue to build up loyalty and demand in the areas where they’re selling like mad versus the market that they are a niche player in.
In fairness only N95 8GB owners have Flash-Lite 3 and Web Runtime support, N95-1 owners are still waiting.
And it is not just the N95-3, I have a Nokia E51 that could do with a firmware update to get rid of the lovely green tint when you take a picture.
@Stefan
The thing is, how different is that N95 8gb hardware wise to the N95-3. A little bigger screen and built in memory… So… you have the code for the built in memory and the smaller screen in the N95-1 and all the new memory handling code in the N95-8. If you were intelligent designers these would be very modular and easy to port around. If they haven’t figured out how to design modularly for their embedded platforms and reuse code… well damn… I’ve bought too much of their stuff to continue supporting such idiocy. Then add to that the continuing sorry state of warranty repairs in the US.
You don’t see us clamoring nearly as over the other phones they don’t update (though there is some) like the N75, but you pay for a flagship device and you expect some love.
I’m not a marketing analyst but it seems to me that if you
1. Charge high dollar amounts for products in a market you profess to want to break into.
2. Contract your warranty service out and don’t mind making your customers in this market wait 3,4,5,6+ weeks to get their expensive phones back.
3. and… Don’t bother updating the product line to maintain parity with its very closely related siblings.
Then you don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell, support and service are going to be key. A sweet powerful device is cool, but if the moment I have a problem with it I can expect a support experience so crappy I’m writing the executive offices then you may as well close up shop.
With the internet and rapid communication, you treat an entire continents worth of customers like this at your own peril internationally. If I read about them treating people in Asia like this, but everything was fine here my opinion of the would lower and I’d be less likely to buy them. I’d look for someone who treated their customers well in every market they were selling in.
They don’t have to come out with the gigantic selection of phones the come out with for the rest of the world. They just have to come out with a few and work hard on supporting those.
zr
At times like this i’m glad i live in the UK with Nokia approved service centres in every major town, and even when it has to be sent away your phone is usually back within a week. I can understand what you mean though i have N95-1 and thats at V20 right now which i have updated to myself but my operator is still stuck on V11, no way am i going to stick to that version it’s just horrible compared to the fast and smooth running of V20 with all it’s memory optimisations.
@stefan While you obviously make a valid point about concentrating on established markets where they need to- it’s just all this fluff talk that I hear from Nokia about how they want to be #1 in North America… yet all the action I see is counter-productive.
While I certainly don’t have sales data on the N95 product line and can’t say how many N95-3s have been sold, I can say that actions like this don’t exactly support the idea of selling a freakin’ ton more… you know?
Keep pushing Euro variants at us in NA- keep hush on the fact that you’re planning a NAM variant in a month or two- then cash in again on those consumers that were foolish enough to buy a phone on this soil with Euro 3G, then don’t support it. How fast will that get you to the top?
Lots of cheap talk is all I see.
@zr: I myself would have a worse opinion of a manufacturer consistently treating customers on some continents worse. But why should I then choose the 2nd best (or worse) product just because of this?
Assume I live outside the US: Would Nokia really realize what happened when I buy another brand just because the update frequency for Nokia US models is rather bad? I don’t think so.
Given how similar the hardware is in all of the N95s, one has to assume that the reason for the firmware schedule is business, not technical.
I’m guessing that Nokia is withholding the N95-3 firmware to make the N95-4 more attractive when it launches, creating more bus and maybe even extra sales to enthusiasts who already have an N95-3 but want the new firmware (I’m dangerously close to falling into that category mysqlf). Once the N95-4 has been established, they’ll then update the N95-3 to be *almost* as good so that people still have a reason to buy it.
IIRC, this is essentially what they did in Europe. The N95-1 only got bug fixes and minor features (AGPS?) in its firmware updates prior to the N95-2’s release - the mega update didn’t come until after the N95-2 came out.
Mar 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
[…] the Nokia blogosphere today with regards to the new firmware update that the N73 received today. Ricky (Symbian-Guru), Mark (The Nokia Blog) and Jeremiah (Nokia Users) each posted about it and seem […]
Mar 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
[…] Why I Think Nokia Should Offer Paid Upgrades to S60 V3 FP2 14 03 2008 Nokia is regarded as the largest cellphone-manufacturing company in the world, but it’s after purchase phone support doesn’t match it’s elite role in the cellphone market. Some phones get tens of firmware updates (like the N73 that got updated to v4.0808.4.2.2), some get frequent updates ( like the N95-1), and some don’t get any updates at all ( like the N95-3, and that’s pissing off a lot of people for example Ricky Cadden). […]
Mar 28th, 2008 at 7:36 am
[…] Nokia is regarded as the largest cellphone-manufacturing company in the world, but it’s after purchase phone support doesn’t match it’s elite role in the cellphone market. Some phones get tens of firmware updates (like the N73 that got updated to v4.0808.4.2.2), some get frequent updates ( like the N95-1), and some don’t get any updates at all ( like the N95-3, and that’s pissing off a lot of people for example Ricky Cadden). […]