In Part 1 of this great post experiment, I exposed a summary of the replies I got from the Jaiku community concerning the influence of the N95 on Nokia’s mobile landscape. In this part, I will stop for a moment to look at these answers, as well as voice my personal opinion.
The one thing you will notice is that there is great contradiction in some areas (the influence of the iPhone on the N95’s purchases), as well as nice symphonic tuned answers in others (software improvements). Quite frankly, we could go on for hours arguing on who is right and who is wrong. There are arguments in favor of each of the affirmations you can read on the Jaiku and there might not be one simple answer.
- Was the N95 released prematurely? We all seemed to agree that no, it was released just in time.
- Did it kill Nokia by creating such a high-end handset that they couldn’t easily top? Yes and no, depends on which glasses you put on to look at it. If you’re in the über-connected population then somehow yes, the N95 was and still is a representation of the best in terms of features and also a representation of something Nokia can’t easily top right now. If you look at it through the average consumer’s eyes, then no, the N95 is getting into his hands just now, and it is everything he has wanted and will want for a long time.
- Is Nokia boring us with sort of re-makes of the N95? Again, us, technology addicts, are somehow bored, the average consumer just has more choice. Plus he is just starting to get to know the N95 line, it will be at least a year before he’s bored of it.
- What are the next challenges for Nokia? Software, software, software, that is the first and biggest challenge. The second one is mid-range S60 devices, and I’ve already voiced my thoughts about it. The third one is marketing, and the fourth is whether or not they should go for an ultimate device, which I have also ranted about in the past.
The other thing you will notice is that even though I said nothing about the iPhone in my question, a great percentage of replies had the iPhone mentioned somewhere. Fact is that you can’t talk about the influence of one device on a company’s portfolio unless you compare it with the competition it had at that moment. The N95 vs iPhone comparison is where the most interesting part of the discussion flourished and it allows me to voice an opinion I have had about Apple and Nokia for a while. Both companies are huge, both have revolutionized the way we think about mobile devices, both have a great market, huge amount of followers and haters too, both I constantly rant against yet totally respect, but both have really opposite ways of working.
Fact is, I am getting sick of those “apples and oranges” cliché sentences, as well as the “iphone-killer” and “n95-successor” nominations. No device will kill the iPhone other than the 2nd-gen iPhone, no device will be a good successor to the N95 unless it’s manufactured by Nokia. Both companies are part of EXTREMELY different leagues. I said it in my Jaiku, Apple play the mobile industry game like basketball, Nokia play it like rugby. Quite a childish comparison, but it makes the difference more understandable for those of you who haven’t stopped to look at it.
Apple
Apple works the “secure” strategy. See, when Apple releases a new product, it’s been tested to death, it’s been made to work totally utterly flawlessly. Most of the time that means that the product isn’t cutting edge technology but more a new Appley way of doing something that has been here for ages. Apple will rarely be the FIRST to release a new feature, service, handset, gadget, but they will almost always be the first to release it THIS WAY.
That’s why I compare them to playing basketball. In basketball, unlike many other sports, you get at least 60-70 opportunities to score, and out of these 60-70, you’re seriously bad if you don’t make 20-25. Apple will always make sure to pick the perfect shot, and will have an almost perfect scoring percentage. Problem is that most of these shots will be nothing special but more like some overthought moves that we have all seen somewhere before. Think of it this way: every single update the iPhone received was cheered to death, mostly these updates added functionality that we’ve all had for ages on our handsets, but still people liked it because it worked well. The surprising part is that very rarely, when back on defense, some player will appear out of nowhere, steal the ball and start a fast break to score an amazing slam dunk that will take the crowd’s breath away. That’s when Apple releases something (arguably) “new” like the iPhone, the iPod or the MacBook air.
Is there anything wrong with that strategy? No, people who look for perfection will love it, those who look for breathtaking innovation won’t. Personally, I respect it because it makes things easier for the consumer.
But this strategy should let people understand that Apple don’t function by big moves, they work by small safe shots, one after the other. I have read a lot of rumors stating that the next generation iPhone will have 3G, an improved camera and GPS. I will cut my hand if it does have all three. 3G might be all it will get, GPS is something I crossed out before but the title of their WWDC event got me doubtful. Multitasking as well as camera improvements are as far as Pluto, and the only thing I can see them improving is adding video recording capability to the camera. Of course, that is my personal opinion.
Nokia
Nokia on the other hand, love playing the “risky” strategy. Most of the time, they will release cutting-edge technology, so cutting in fact that it seems like they didn’t test it long enough. They do test their products, there’s no doubt in that, but they don’t care a lot about flawless perfection before it gets in the hands of consumers. They will correct it later, they have months to do so, because even by the time they release the corrected product, the competition will still be wondering how to make the flawed one. That’s what happened with the N95.
Even now, take a look at the market and see if you can name one device with a 5MP camera and a good lens, built-in GPS, WiFi, HSDPA, Tv-Out, multimedia and gaming capabilities and most importantly a smartphone platform. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no device that can get even get close to the power of the N95. One year after its release on the market, no one can catch up with Nokia’s N95. In the meantime, while the other players were busy banging their heads against the wall, Nokia improved upon the N95 with the numerous firmware updates, the swiss-knife N95 8gb and the N82. The best part is that not only that, they also made the technology available one year earlier than the others, and hence gave it the chance to decrease its price, thus making it now possible to grab N95-like technology for more affordable prices.
Is there anything wrong with the strategy? Well, customers who want their device to just work will be disappointed and look at the lower-end handsets or at other manufacturers, those who are willing to invest some time to personalize their device will be in with Nokia for a long time.
Nokia are playing this game like rugby. In rugby you don’t get a lot of opportunities to score, and the crowd doesn’t get breathless every time you make a 10m run. All that matters is that you score, and it is a rare and difficult thing. Nokia has an army of low and mid-range devices back in defense. At some point, one player will steal the ball and make a great run with it. Most of the time, he will run without looking, but if at some point he does look, he will stop and wait for the other players to back him up. He knows that if he doesn’t, he might as well go ahead and bump against a wall of enemies by himself. Nokia knows that getting one player there isn’t the right rugby strategy. The right one is to get almost all the players to more or less the same level, in order to give one of them the opportunity to break through the enemy lines and score. This star player will have a lot of wingmen, ready to protect him as well as carry after him if he falls down.
That is the difference between basketball and rugby: in the first one, you run a short distance and score ; in the second one, there’s a lot of waiting that needs to be done and it is rare to see a player score with one run from one side to the other of the court. Nokia has learned to exploit these waiting moments, the N73 as well as the 6120 have been part of it. They sold like crazy because they were respectively in the higher and lower side of the mid-range S60 devices. The N78 and the 6220/5320 will pick up from where those two left, and all 3 will also sell like crazy because they will offer technology that was once only available for the N95 but now at more affordable prices.
Which strategy do I prefer? Well I own an N95 but am looking into getting a 2nd generation iPod Touch once they are available. Make what you want out of it.
