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2005-11-10
, 14:42
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Posts: 772 |
Thanked: 183 times |
Joined on Jul 2005
@ Montclair, NJ (NYC suburbs)
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#2
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I don't understand this.
Nokia is trying to prepare things for the launch today and make it possible to use the distribution channel to handle shipping to developers (who have to pay for their devices, so they're using a site that handles money and arranges shipping).
And you're trying to game the system and order early, and this confuses the system and the people handling it. And Nokia knows it has few devices available -- I got word last week that Nokia was trying to be "conscious not to drive people to country sites before they can actually place an order, to manage customer expectations effectively".
So maybe they only had a few hundred devices manufactured, and maybe that's a ridiculous rumor. I don't know. I know that I and others pressed Nokia to release what they could as soon as they could.
So why is it justified to tell the "big guns" that this is a bust when the only thing you know is that the order system doesn't know how to allow some pre-orders and not others? This is an engineered cockup, not "mismangement of launch supplies."
This is bogus as far as I'm concerned.
Nokia is trying to prepare things for the launch today and make it possible to use the distribution channel to handle shipping to developers (who have to pay for their devices, so they're using a site that handles money and arranges shipping).
And you're trying to game the system and order early, and this confuses the system and the people handling it. And Nokia knows it has few devices available -- I got word last week that Nokia was trying to be "conscious not to drive people to country sites before they can actually place an order, to manage customer expectations effectively".
So maybe they only had a few hundred devices manufactured, and maybe that's a ridiculous rumor. I don't know. I know that I and others pressed Nokia to release what they could as soon as they could.
So why is it justified to tell the "big guns" that this is a bust when the only thing you know is that the order system doesn't know how to allow some pre-orders and not others? This is an engineered cockup, not "mismangement of launch supplies."
This is bogus as far as I'm concerned.
__________________
N900 Guide Brief intro to the Nokia N900 (http://n900guide.com/)
Maemoan since July 2005 )
N900 Guide Brief intro to the Nokia N900 (http://n900guide.com/)
Maemoan since July 2005 )
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2005-11-10
, 14:58
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Posts: 92 |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on Oct 2005
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#3
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Originally Posted by RogerS
I don't understand this.
Nokia is trying to prepare things for the launch today and make it possible to use the distribution channel to handle shipping to developers (who have to pay for their devices, so they're using a site that handles money and arranges shipping).
And you're trying to game the system and order early, and this confuses the system and the people handling it. And Nokia knows it has few devices available -- I got word last week that Nokia was trying to be "conscious not to drive people to country sites before they can actually place an order, to manage customer expectations effectively".
So maybe they only had a few hundred devices manufactured, and maybe that's a ridiculous rumor. I don't know. I know that I and others pressed Nokia to release what they could as soon as they could.
So why is it justified to tell the "big guns" that this is a bust when the only thing you know is that the order system doesn't know how to allow some pre-orders and not others? This is an engineered cockup, not "mismangement of launch supplies."
This is bogus as far as I'm concerned.
Roger,
I didn't tell the various sites that Nokia had definitively screwed up the launch or alreadt had a bust. I pointed them to the Euro sites, many of which have been sold out for several days. That is a fact and not speculation. I pointed out that Nokia USA phone sales were taking orders as of Monday. That's a fact as I was able to place one then. I mentioned that Nokia USA phone sales is now saying that they are out of stock with no ETA on availability because that's what I and several others on here were told. I referenced threads (and provided links) to posts made here by users about the Euro shortage and what appears to be a US shortage as well. This last part is unclear, but I provided the links and asked them to look into it to try and figure out what's going on. I also said that I hoped it was just pre-launch confusion.
The press release from November 7th wasn't advertising developer sales only. It was a release about general availability. As such, you would expect that a company like Nokia would have enough units on hand to not sell out in a few days. They aren't some mom and pop startup.
Yes, I came by all this information as I was trying to order it early. I came right out and said that in my long post in another thread. However, facts are facts and there appears to be a supply problem. If Nokia has offically launched with very few units available, then that strategy deserves to be called into question. Again, they are Nokia and more should be expected of them.
I love the concept and will spread word around about the 770 to try and make it as big a success as possible. But I can't ignore what seems to be a poor marketing strategy. If they didn't have quantities available, they shouldn't have announced it so early. Doing so negatively impacts the launch and long-term product success. Me pointing out the situation to news sites isn't the root of any bad PR, should there be some. A short supply and therefore poor launch management would be the genesis. This isn't a witch hunt, this is an attempt to find out what the heck is going on.
Jeff
Last edited by rgbyhkr; 2005-11-10 at 15:04.
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2005-11-10
, 15:30
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Posts: 772 |
Thanked: 183 times |
Joined on Jul 2005
@ Montclair, NJ (NYC suburbs)
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#4
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The only thing I see is that when Nokia tried to make some devices available pre-release, misinformation showed up in the system that the 770 was available for sale.
You say that means they "officially launched". Since Nokia PR was saying on last Friday they would launch in six days (that's today), I don't think suddenly the company decided to launch on Monday and didn't tell (a) their PR staff, (B) their sales and marketing staff, and (C) their potential customers.
I don't think any devices that were ordered (like yours) shipped before today, nor that Nokia sold everything they have and are now out of stock. I think you got all kinds of weird information because people at the order fulfillment end were trying to shortcircuit the system so as not to mislead the sales staff or to complete an order that couldn't be shipped. (So you see "out of stock" to stop things.) I think that explains the circumstances better than "They launched without telling anyone; and they sold out all their supplies already."
BTW, is the order fulfillment actually being handled by Nokia? It looks like they may be sub-contracting the work out. They may be introducing another factor into the confusion.
You say that means they "officially launched". Since Nokia PR was saying on last Friday they would launch in six days (that's today), I don't think suddenly the company decided to launch on Monday and didn't tell (a) their PR staff, (B) their sales and marketing staff, and (C) their potential customers.
I don't think any devices that were ordered (like yours) shipped before today, nor that Nokia sold everything they have and are now out of stock. I think you got all kinds of weird information because people at the order fulfillment end were trying to shortcircuit the system so as not to mislead the sales staff or to complete an order that couldn't be shipped. (So you see "out of stock" to stop things.) I think that explains the circumstances better than "They launched without telling anyone; and they sold out all their supplies already."
BTW, is the order fulfillment actually being handled by Nokia? It looks like they may be sub-contracting the work out. They may be introducing another factor into the confusion.
__________________
N900 Guide Brief intro to the Nokia N900 (http://n900guide.com/)
Maemoan since July 2005 )
N900 Guide Brief intro to the Nokia N900 (http://n900guide.com/)
Maemoan since July 2005 )
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2005-11-10
, 15:44
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Posts: 28 |
Thanked: 1 time |
Joined on Nov 2005
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#5
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Sorry Roger, I disagree.
When a product is available for sale, as it has been on the Euro sites since late last week, it has been launched. When you put links to the product page that contains a 'buy now' link on the front page of your website, as Nokia Euro sites did late last week, it has been launched.
The stock problem that Nokia has isn't confined to the US, its worldwide and is symptomatic of bad, or extremely pessimistic, launch planning.
When a product is available for sale, as it has been on the Euro sites since late last week, it has been launched. When you put links to the product page that contains a 'buy now' link on the front page of your website, as Nokia Euro sites did late last week, it has been launched.
The stock problem that Nokia has isn't confined to the US, its worldwide and is symptomatic of bad, or extremely pessimistic, launch planning.
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2005-11-10
, 15:47
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Posts: 92 |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on Oct 2005
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#6
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Originally Posted by RogerS
I don't disagree that there is a lot of confusion in the US market. I have no idea if any non-developer US devices were actually shipped out yet and I didn't mention anything like that in my contact to the news sites. It's 10:30 EST and the 770 US site still says "Coming Soon" and the 770 is still listed in the "Expected Soon" section. Now, they could make the change sometime today or even hold back until Monday to be a week from when the press release went out vs when the Euro sites started accepting orders.The only thing I see is that when Nokia tried to make some devices available pre-release, misinformation showed up in the system that the 770 was available for sale.
You say that means they "officially launched". Since Nokia PR was saying on last Friday they would launch in six days (that's today), I don't think suddenly the company decided to launch on Monday and didn't tell (a) their PR staff, (B) their sales and marketing staff, and (C) their potential customers.
I don't think any devices were ordered and shipped before today, nor that they sold everything they have and are now out of stock. I think people were trying to shortcircuit the system so as not to mislead the sales staff or to complete an order. I think that explains the circumstances better than "They launched without telling anyone; and they sold out all their supplies already."
BTW, is the order fulfillment actually being handled by Nokia? It looks like they may be sub-contracting the work out. They may be introducing another factor into the confusion.
If the US stuff was all there was, there wouldn't be a story. However, most of the Euro sites have been sold out for days and several posts reference emails from Nokia claiming restocking at the end of the month. So, unless there is a screw-up in supply affecting Euro markets only, there is reason to be concerned about launch supplies everywhere. Even if it's just restricted to the Euro stores and that sellout is due to very short supply vs huge demand (and the evidence seems to suggest the former), it's still worth looking into.
The press release confirms an offical launch in the Euro markets as of the 7th, yet the UK store was sold out by that morning according to a post here. Those Euro sights weren't for pre-release developer unit sales. They were and are for general consumer sales. If you announce a launch and every store is sold out, that speaks to a common coordinated theme. But some that had stock starting on the 4th were sold out by the 7th and some were not. That tells me there is a problem with their supply chain or they made the announcement and general availbility too early before they were able to build up enough supply to meet initial demand.
Jeff
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2005-11-10
, 15:50
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Posts: 99 |
Thanked: 3 times |
Joined on Sep 2005
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#7
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As some of you may remember? A similar thing happened with the Handspring Visor launch... it was a mess! Handspring, at the time, was start-up...Nokia is hardly a start-up.... I am in sales/marketing (albeit the medical diagnostics field) but when you launch.. you do sales forecasts, have inventory, etc. and then you roll! Hopefully there is some simple explanation?
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2005-11-10
, 16:19
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Posts: 6 |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on Nov 2005
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#8
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My personal experience: ordered it 2 days ago here in NL and got it today at noon. Very fast and quick!
Have a bit of patience, I'm sure they're sorting this out. I'm not sure it really will help you to get a unit quicker by blasting Nokia and giving them a bad rep on what is a brand new device/market for them.
Btw, very nice device.
Have a bit of patience, I'm sure they're sorting this out. I'm not sure it really will help you to get a unit quicker by blasting Nokia and giving them a bad rep on what is a brand new device/market for them.
Btw, very nice device.
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2005-11-10
, 16:22
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Posts: 59 |
Thanked: 1 time |
Joined on Nov 2005
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#9
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Given that some of the components in the 770 (I'm thinking of the screen here) are fairly leading edge maybe the supply of them isn't so great yet?
It's not really the same as commodity hardware like flash memory or similar where the likes of Apple can buy a factory to make sure they have high stock levels.
It's not really the same as commodity hardware like flash memory or similar where the likes of Apple can buy a factory to make sure they have high stock levels.
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2005-11-10
, 16:29
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Posts: 92 |
Thanked: 0 times |
Joined on Oct 2005
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#10
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Originally Posted by Zorglub
So how is pointing out what appears to be a short supply chain assoicated with a new product launch "blasting" Nokia? By the way, I have a vested interest in seeing the 770 succeed. I don't want to spend $350 on it only to have Nokia drop it from their product line due to poor sales. Have a bit of patience, I'm sure they're sorting this out. I'm not sure it really will help you to get a unit quicker by blasting Nokia and giving them a bad rep on what is a brand new device/market for them.
The availability press release has been issued and was picked up by various news sites. Perspective customers have and will start going to Nokia's site to try and buy one. If all they see is "out of stock" or "coming soon" day after day with no word from Nokia on when to expect units, that will surely hurt the 770's long-term success. Better for some tech reporters to make inquiries and report on what's going on so potential consumers have realistic expectations about when they can get their hands on one.
Jeff
I hate to see the 770 get any bad PR, but come on, how can you launch a new product with such scarce quantities available?
Jeff