subject: Nokia May Develop The Low-end Mobile Phone System Meltemi [print this page] According to sources, Nokia has abandoned the efforts to develop the high-end mobile operating system. It shifts the focus of business to low-end mobile software.
It is said that Nokia is currently working on a project of the Linux operating system code-named "Meltemi". "Meltemi" is a Greek word, meaning the summer monsoon blowing from the north. The project is headed by the executive vice president of Nokia's mobile phone business Mary McDowell.
Nokia's spokesman Doug Dawson refused to comment on the news. Nokia's efforts to develop their own operating system once again show that the value of the technology industry is moving from hardware to software. Over the past year, Google's Android system leads in the smart phone market, while Apple's iPhone is leading the high-end smart phone market.
The analysts said that mobile phone makers with their own operating system such as Apple have a greater advantage in the competition. The mobile phone manufacturers can define their own products without having to rely on other companies. Samsung Electronics is currently developing its own operating system Bada. It is also producing high-end smart phones using Android system. Over-reliance on one platform will bring risks.The most critical issue is to spread risk.
The analyst said Nokia's current problem is that the consumers of the emerging market want the low-end phones have the features of the smart phones. In general, the feature phone's Internet accesses are not strong, mainly for phone calls and send text messages. While for Nokia, the low-end mobile phone business is essential. In the second quarter, the feature phones accounted for 47% of the sales of Nokia's devices and services.
In February, Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop said it would strengthen the low-end phone business, aiming at the emerging markets that have a low mobile penetration. Emerging markets are Nokia's traditional areas of strength. But Nokia's related businesses are under the challenge of low-cost Chinese manufacturers.
As Google provides free Android system to handset makers, the low-cost smart phones have begun to enter the low-end mobile phone market. According to the data, in the second quarter, the shipments of the functional mobile phone fell 4 percent, which is the first time since 2009.
It has been a long time that Nokia developed the mobile phone operating system. Nokia began related work with the high-end mobile phone operating system Maemo in 2003. However, due to the internal management restructuring and strategic realignment, Nokia can not achieve much progress.
