Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

http://www.reuters.com/article/earni...5AR08220091128

I started wonderintg about this possibility 2 years ago. If it happened, I would expect mobile computers (including netbooks) to stay. They serve the internet services business.

(originally twittered by my friend silpol)

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Allready refuted officially.
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Mobile_..._business.aspx





EDIT reading the original text in german:
http://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen-maerk...tellen-415295/

Wonder what idiot did the german to english translation. The english article on Reuters is horrible. They only talk about outsourcing manufacturing not dropping mobilephone production. Even there the "Never say never" is answer to a leading question.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

It's just sensationalism. When he said "never say never", it was obvious he really meant it, rather than "we're considering it, but I can't admit it". Slow news day, maybe?

But it kind of makes sense in the distant future. Eventually basic hardware will be so cheap it'll become a real death race to the bottom, and by then they'd better have a better source of income than S40-devices.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

I was about to say that one of the main advantages (if not the main one) Nokia has are their factories. Would be crazy to sell them.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

There's been more and more outsourcing over the years, so who knows.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Doesn't seem likely, but who thought IBM would divest itself of all personal computers?

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Cant it be that instead of being a OS developer Nokia is actually building a content delivery platform with Maemo?

If so, and I truly hope since this is where the money will come from, they better catch up quick...

One of the quickies would be buying some known content providers? Spotify anyone?

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Makes me question the competency of Mr.Anssi Vanjoki as an executive within the ranks of Nokia. Nokia playing catch up in the online solutions area? Google is the only entity that has a broader portfolio then Nokia and that is solely because that is Googles core business – mining and selling its users data. Apple has an App store and a music store. RIM, Messaging and (Ha!) an app store.

Nokia's current portfolio includes:
Maps/Navigation
File sharing
Image sharing
E-mail/Messaging
App store
Cloud synchronization

All this available from a PC or a handset – many of these services sync between the PC and handset.

A gaggle of toddlers with crayons could market the brand better then Nokia. Instead of cowering in the corner whimpering " we got to do better", Nokia should grow a backbone and start a Verizon /Droid iDon't campaign.

Remember Vine? FriendView? Sport Tracker? Mobile Chat? Nokia has been there, done that… and they aren't raping your privacy to sell data and ad space. I hope they keep the core business hardware - that way they don't get ideas about monetizing my data.

(Head in hands)…what losers –can't get out of their own way!

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Don't forget Nokia Money-- a potentially huge service if successful...

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

The Ovi Store is the center of their plans. Once Qt is ready, and Maemo and Symbian are ready for the masses, they'll move onto porting Qt to more platforms, like Android and Blackberry. Once they do that, they can use their carrier relations to leverage Ovi-based carrier-branded app stores on all devices and platforms. They'll control the app world, as well as have a great mechanism for content delivery. Imagine this: Would you rather, as a carrier, have to worry about Android Market, OPhone Market, App Store, and Blackberry Market, or CarrierX-branded Store based on Qt based Ovi Store? Which is easier to manage and addresses more OSes, and has payment pipes already installed, along with Nokia Money implementation? Who else can offer anything similar?

Nokia's strategy is one of the greatest moves I've seen in mobiles. I just think they're moving too slowly on making it happen. I hope they don't sell the entire manufacturing wing, but if they only focus on the high end and get out of the mass market business, I won't be upset. There will be plenty of devices out there. But Nokia is the only one with rights to Carl Zeiss hardware for mobiles.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

DREJV, Nokia can't waste money marketing Ovi now when its not ready. It will be more relevant once Maemo6 and Symbian^4 are hardened. THEN you'll see how they plan to put it all into action. Nokia is also pretty big into mobile advertising. It all goes well together.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

I wouldn't put too much weight on that. Eventually the only logical move for Canon and Nikon will be to either exit the point and shoot market or turn their cameras into phones.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Precisely. The more I find out about Nokia and Ovi (which I mean in an entirely positive way, by the way), the I consider my move into Ovi as a long term strategy rather than a quick-get-rich plan.

The problem Nokia appears to be facing currently is that they're entirely lacking an elite customer service and market rep team, which has culminated in the current general cluster**** of misinformation related to N900 and Maemo.

I think internally, everything at Nokia is running perfectly on track. It's just unfortunate that they're the only ones who know what track they're running on, and where it's going - which, in this day and age, combined with the er, mediocre.. customer service, makes people assume incompetence rather than the possibilty that Nokia is keeping their cards unusually close to their chest.

Something which shouldnt be surprising when you consider the internal reorganizing that's been going on lately.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Well in news 3h ago some Nokia exec said that this isn't happening and the manufacturing will keep being part of core business.
So if it will ever happen i don't think we will be seeing this anytime soon.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Remember that there's a difference between getting out of the mobile phone business and getting out of the mobile phone manufacturing business. I read the article as a simple question about outsourcing manufacturing to a lower cost country (e.g. China) with the answer being "not now, maybe someday".

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Much Nokia engine manufacturing is already done in LCCs, like India and South Korea. There's a Beijing factory too. So if a big move were to be made, it would either be to relocate more their way, or outsource to companies like Compal and/or Foxconn. Or both.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

and I'm all for that.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

This one was funny.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Yeah, I am very impressed with Mr. Vanjoki. Very sharp guy. Friendly too... and he actually took time to respond to one of my articles when I blogged inside Nokia.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

I just called the Nokia Customer Service to ask if it is true that Nokia is considering going out of mobile business. The Rep assured me that he will look into this matter and update me over email!! But he kep mum on N900 delivery issues though!!

Ok Jokes apart, this move IF true will make sense ONLY in the long run. And nothing really to get excited about atleast for the next 5 to 10 years.

Nokia is a very seasoned player and and it knows well what is best for it and its share holders.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Ah quotes, I understand more and more why companies these days won't allow their employees to say basically anything.

Basically what he is saying is yes, there MAY come a day when nokia will be exiting what is now their core business, they have sort of done it before ;)

What can be said however is that their focus is already shifting much more to the services part, which is only natural since that's where the value-added is today. I, for one, am really excited to see what comes of this, they already have a good portfolio but it needs to become easier to use and people need to know about it. But right now it's like looking at a giant jigsaw puzzle that someone is putting together only he refuses to tell you what he's building, I find it very exciting :)

PS: just did a quick one minute survey and no one of my contacts on skype who were online right now even know what OVI is...

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

He may be a nice guy...but not well managed on his talking points. This type of comment diminishes credibility and causes customer confusion.

As you can see I am a Nokia loyalist... because they consistently make things that work, allow me to control my experience (not Nokia dictating how I use the products I purchase), and have an underlying ethic of providing value.

That said I'm a non-economically viable market segment- the educated consumer who is competent. Not enough of us on the planet to be profitable, nokia needs to market to normobs. Here, in the USA, Nokia is perceived as the maker of cheap phones. Yet everyone who sees my current Nokia phones is amazed by the N97 and N900.

I agree Nokia can't market their way out of paper bag. Maybe they are too nice? They have no clue as how to play the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) game that Microsoft and Apple learned to play with IBM in the 1990's. How come we have not seen a iDon't campaign come out of Espoo?

One of the reasons I'm posting after 5 years of lurking is the FUD/marketing posts that have sprung up on the site… you know the "N900….sucks" type of posts that are the domain of the self appointed techno-bloggers (thinly veiled employees of social/web marketing companies).

Mr. Vanjoki and his team are doing a disservice to all the dedicated people at Nokia, Symbian, and Maemo….Great hardware, great software, innovation, openness…lousy marketing. This is not opinion since Mr. Vanjoki's metrics are market share and mindshare - measurable and public…. and disappointing.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

I don't think it's FUD, I think (at least in the US) it's a lack of willingness or ability to work with carriers. As far as the ability, the Qualcomm lawsuit may have something to do with this and things may be changing since it was settled. I can't really say. What I can say is that most "normobs" here buy a service which includes a phone. The only Nokia phones available with most carrier service packages are the cheap ones, hence the perception is that Nokia makes low end phones.

Until Nokia can partner with a US carrier to offer the N900, there's not much that marketing can do for them over here. There are two Nokia stores versus thousands of carrier stores and mall kiosks. The best ads in the world won't help if people can't drive down to the local mall and see the product in person.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

It shouldn't, and if it does, it makes me sad for the state of general education.

(emphasis mine)

It's a preference to operate in markets that aren't so ridiculously restricted like ours is in the US.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

True enough. But Nokia then suffers the consequences of that decision (and people here need to recognize that).

When the American press (including blogs) fail to recognize Nokia as a major player in the phone or OS market, it's because they aren't a major player in America. Not because of a Google, Apple, Microsoft, and/or Intel conspiracy.

Nokia still dominates the world market for phones without a presence in the American high-end market. They're happy with this even if some of us here are not. C'est la vie.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

Nokia fought the US carrier-driven battle, lost, and is now making up. It won't happen overnight.

Re: Nokia "cannot rule out" eventual sale of core handset business
 

well Nokia has handled the US market well. I'm glad they don't let carriers rape their devices. They don't do it to Apple as much, nor RIM. It is the consumers that have suffered, and the carriers. I don't see how at&t or TMo shareholders can stomach missng out on the 5800XM, E71, and N95 financial bonanzas seen across the globe far greater than the iPhone buzz. We lost out, but we don't blame the carriers, but Nokia?!? Imagine if they'd sold the 5800 XM for $79 on contract?

Had Nokia listened to them, we'd have models as crippled as the E71x, and have negated the reason they are number one globally. They've stood up for our right to technology. When will we stand up for their noble choice?