subject: Nokia Investors May Want A New Ceo, But The Path To Success Is No Secret [print this page] Nokia faces their toughest challenge to dateNokia faces their toughest challenge to date. One decade ago it was a small company when Motorola ruled the wireless industry. Then Motorola wasn't there when the industry changed from analog to digital and lost their number one position to Nokia who has ruled ever since. Now the industry is changing again, from ordinary cell phones to smart phones and Nokia has no brand recognition in this new area. Will the company expand their brand and survive or will they get lost in the dust like Motorola did last decade.
The economic recovery seems to be smiling on many smart phone makers, but Nokia is missing it. If we take a closer look at the industry some companies are recovering while others are not. The companies in the smart phone sector are doing very well, while the companies in the ordinary handset sector are struggling.
Nokia has built their name and their brand in the ordinary handset market and that is not doing well. The smart phones are selling strong, but no one thinks of Nokia as a smart phone marker.
That is their challenge.
Nokia has to expand their brand to include what is hot today. Companies that are leading that charge are Apple with the iPhone and RIM with the Blackberry. Samsung and LG and HTC are also doing well, but the media and customer attention seems to be on Apple. Now Google is getting into the mix. These are the two major brands that may be the king of the hill going forward, along with new entrants like Dell and Lenovo and whoever is next.
Suddenly the wireless industry is changing. It is growing and new companies are taking the lead. What does that mean for the existing leaders like Nokia? The company still has roughly 40% of the marketplace, but that is getting ready to change quickly unless they can update their brand and remain strong going forward.
The company has tried several times over the last couple years with limited success. They just cannot attract the kind of attention either from the customers or the media. Their smart phones may be good, but are plain vanilla. Nothing exciting. No headlines.
The problem is the brand. Nokia does not have sizzle like we see with Apple and Google.
Does this mean Nokia is lost? Not yet, but the writing is on the wall. They still have time to recover before it is too late. It all depends on what the company does going forward in coming months to update and expand their brand in the smart phone sector and what it can do to generate lots of media attention.
This is a good company with quality products. It's just that the marketplace changed so quickly it left them behind in the dust. Success or failure is in their hands. This is no longer a matter of developing the next cell phone. This is now a new race in the smart phone sector and it is changing quickly.
