Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, well, there was a Finnish mobile phones manufacturer who had mainly three smartphone series: Nseries, Eseries and numbered devices. Of these three, Nseries were the biggest hits: handsets that everyone coveted, that were considered to be the culmination of technology, with state-of-the-art multimedia creation and consumption capabilities. Facing these, was another category of specialized devices, Eseries, that were aimed at business users and basically offered less cutting-edge hardware and a stripped down software version without all the nifty multimedia adds, but which in counterpart had phenomenal battery life, a better build quality, and some quirks in terms of Microsoft Office and Exchange support. Numbered devices were somehow on the hinge between these two, bringing a few specials here and there (like the Navigator line) but nothing special and common to glue the different models together.
Then kaboom, the fairytale ended. Many factors contributed to the Nseries demise: the launch of the iPhone and Android, as well as the Samsung comeback, but it was essentially an internal mistake where Nokia failed to launch a true successor to the N95 in time to keep the momentum going. The industry started catching up with the N95 steadily, while Nokia struggled on improving the multimedia package and launching a new line of Ovi services. Two years and a catastrophic N96 later, the N97 and N86 came out, but it was admittedly one year too late for the N. Users looking for cutting edge multimedia creation had found a new leader in Samsung, those looking for multimedia consumption easily headed down the iPhone path, and those who got sick of waiting went for Android. Come to think of it, Nseries are now for those looking for a balanced experience between multimedia creation and consumption and are still loyal to either Symbian or Nokia as brands.
While N was battling for oxygen, another division of the company was finally getting into immense success. The E51 paved the way, but it was the unbelievable success of the E66 and E71 that put a crown on Eseries (more than 5 million E71 units sold to date). Something had clicked inside the Eseries team and what were once bulky, ugly, slow devices with a stripped-down software, became slim, classy, snappy handsets with a huge set of specialized UI improvements. That same series that regular customers didn’t even give a second look and many avoided like the plague 2 years ago, turned around to become a highly consumer friendly line. But the team didn’t stop there, they took that winning formula and pushed it again in the E75, and recently the E52,E55 and E72. The results showed up in the numbers, where the 2nd quarter of 2009 was the first time Eseries sales surpassed Nseries (4.7 vs 4.6 million devices sold), but can also be seen a lot more clearly when you walk down the street.
Take Lebanon for example, a country whose population is seriously loyal and committed to the Nokia brand. Whereas I had seldom seen anyone carry an E61, E66 or E90, I came back after one year to see the E71, E66 and E75 in the hands of everyone on the street, from the grocery shop employee to the owner of the most important satellite company in the country. Add to that almost all of my friends who either have moved to Eseries, either are planning to.
So is E the new N? In terms of popular success, I’m betting my left kidney on that, and my right one on the fact that it’ll stay this way for a while. The Eseries managers have found a secret recipe of size, style, speed, efficiency and most importantly price, and they are not planning on letting it go. Their direct competitors, namely RIM, have made incredible progress in terms of hardware and software but are still cramped by a limited worldwide availability and an expensive email service, whereas their second competitors, HTC, are struggling with an archaic Windows Mobile interface and an even more limited global presence.
It might not be long before other companies take a lesson out of the E success recipe, but until then, E is the series that has redefined business and efficiency just like N redefined multimedia in the last years. It’s now the new N, the new “gotta-own” device with incredible popular success and no direct worldwide competitor.
