Did the N95 kill Nokia or revive it? (concept blog post 2 b written, made out of YOUR Jaiku comments). Explanations after the break.
1 year, 9 months ago.
24 comments so far
Was the n95 released one year too early, compared to the market? What would've happened if Nokia released the N95 this year? Would they have avoided the "boredom" that everyone is talking about, because they are just releasing more or less re-makes of the n95 (n95 8gb, n82, n96)? Or did they do right by being so ahead of the others and grabbing that market as long as it was still free?
And about the post concept, just comment here and i will try to put a post of it all up tomorrow or saturday on Symbian-Guru.
I think that it was announced way before it should have been, but I've got nothing against the release date. This is an interesting discussion imho. It most surely helped Nokia in many ways, I dunno about "revive", I think they were doing well even before. And the boredom...I just read a post by @SteveRowlands where he ponders if Sony Ericsson aren't going the Moto way by releasing endless copies of the same few core models. I for one do hope that Nokia isn't heading that way too. It's not there yet (I mean where SE is today), but hopefully they won't forget the word "innovation" altogether.
I think that the N95 had huge potential and if the iPhone had not been released, it would have sold a lot better, at least in the US. I mean, when it was announced, it was THE thing. Problem is, and this is turning into more and more of an issue for Nokia, because so many months passed between the announcement and the release, the hype surrounding it slowly went away, and it didn't ever return. Not like it was in September '06, anyway.
But I think Nokia has another very very difficult challange ahead. Maybe it will not manifest this year, maybe not the next, but they have a problem in the mid-market. They absolutely rule low-end and high-end (numbers speak), but mid-market-wise...nothing. No edge over the competition other than the brand. I'm hoping the 5800 (please, please, let noone ever mention the 'name' tube again!) will fit in there, because that's where I see it. And if it was designed with the mid-end in mind, I think all will be well for Nokia.
The N95 certainly did not kill Nokia if sales figures are anything to go by. It was certainly a phone ahead of its time in one manner but not the other i.e. as far as manufacturers were concerned they had no answer to the device and it came to the market almost unparallelled. But at the same time, the consumers were more than ready for it, they crowned it the king the moment it landed and since that day stand loyal to the phone.
I am a firm believer in the policy of releasing cutting edge technology to people as soon as its ready and not wait till it might make more economic sense. What Nokia needs to do is deliver state of the art stuff to people and then work twice as hard to innovate and make something good again rather than just giving the consumers bits and pieces of the pie to keep them interested.
The former approach will earn you loyalty; the later might work for a while but people will start hating it when something new keep on popping up every six months when it could all have come together.
PS: Was writing in a small text box from the mobile and its past 2 at night here so pardon me if I wasn't coherent enough!
Nah, I don't think the N95 killed Nokia. I think it was great that they had a powerhouse device to go up against the iPhone when it came out. But, I think they might be suffering from Moto-itis, making so many different versions of the N95 and other phones based on the N95, as Moto did with the RAZR. They need to stop this and go on to the next stage, like maybe refreshing the UI to make some things a bit easier to use for newbies, or just really create a legitimate successor to the N95 with better specs, or the new version of S60 3rd edition, etc. What exactly should that entail? I don't know.
Personally, I moved back to my SE P1i because I feel like touchscreen devices offer a lot faster UI access compared to using a d-pad to scroll around (gah, so sloooow). I'm not saying that ultimately touchscreen devices are better than non-touchscreen, but I think improving the UI to make it more immediately accessible would go a long way. And I've griped before about how slow it is to bring up the camera app on the N95 (and worse on the E90). Since so many people use their cameraphones as their sole digital camera, making the camera app work like a "real" camera would be very useful.
Also, perhaps some more innovative or different form factors? I know a lot of people aren't big on clamshells, but I would love something like the N93i with N95-ish (and beyond) features... Or maybe a dual-slider like the Helio Ocean? Not innovative, but a nice way to provide QWERTY and a standalone number pad.
Offtopic: I also had one more worry that S60/Nokia in they endeavor to go touch might fundamently change S60 and call it revolutionising the UI. I think the current setup is great, it needs a few tweaks here and there but it doesn't need an overhall.
But from the look of things I can put my fears to rest as S60 touch isn't too diff from what we use today.
And far as touch v. Non touch goes I won't get into that however non touch is equally fast. Eg. In the menu just use the keypad shortcut to open any app as you would touch the screen it'll take the same time if not less!
@vaibhavsharma: When I talk about the slowness of non-touch UI v. touch UI, I guess I'm talking about the browser for a lot of the scenarios. I can easily touch the scroll bar and scroll through a webpage, and then tap directly on a link to open it. And even better, on the P1i, in Opera Mobile, I can open a link in a new tab by holding down and choosing to open the link in a new tab in the context menu. For me, that makes mobile browsing so much nicer. The S60 browser just isn't as fast in that case, IMO. Even with that overview thumbnail version that you can choose to have pop up, I never found it to be that helpful for navigating a big webpage.
And neither the UIQ3 or S60 browsers can compete with the ease of mobile Safari, IMO.
Anyway, this is not really a discussion about UI, rather the impact or non-impact of the N95, so I'll stop now. sheepish grin
I don't think the N95 would have sold so well if it wasn't for the iPhone since everyone, and I mean everyone, made a Nokia N95 vs. iPhone post and that opened a lot of people eyes, especially in America, to the competition from Finland.
I do think the N95 came out with some unsatisfactory firmware. It’s when they added AGPS support in v12 or v11, can't remember, but after the device shipped it really started to shine. The demand paging that came more recently really rocked.
All of you are bored because you're excited at the potential of these devices. The N95 opened your eyes to a world where you really have one device that can do everything. You may think you're a dork by calling Nseries devices multimedia computers, but you're not far off from the truth. Thing is the computer industry, in terms of how often hardware gets upgraded, prices drop, faster processors, more dies, etc. etc. moves faster than the mobile phone industry.
You see changes occurring weekly with new web 2.0 services coming out, you see changes twice a year with the spring and fall PC refresh cycle and now you're bored out of mind because the N95 is basically a little over a year old (started shipping in volume in March 2007) and you want something new.
A majority of people will never buy a Nokia n95, they'll buy something cheaper, but they'll buy something Nokia related and S60 powered because they know in their heart of hearts that the N95 is the best.
The N95 did not kill Nokia, far from it, it made the industry realize that wow, all of these things can be done on a mobile phone, which is fucking insane. It made consumers go wow, a phone that can do all this? I can't buy it because it costs too much, but I admire products from a company who can make something that technically advanced.
I bet in the country you're from people still have phones that are more than 2 years old, they'll get something N95 like this year or next year for half the price of the original N95 and love it since that level of sophistication is now available for mid range prices.
Getting N95 like technology into more people's hand is more important, in my opinion, than making something better than the N95. That is what 2009 will be for, crowning a new flagship. The mobile phone industry has 2 year cycles; it's just something we're going to have to live with.
One more thing ... to quote Microsoft, it really is the "magic of software" that excites us, not the devices themselves. We want new applications, new experiences, more than we want new devices.
Satisfying that need however requires much more talent than waiting for the prices of components to drop and a designer to make something pretty so you can go out and buy yet another mobile phone.
That's my 2 cents. Nokia had an excellent 2007 and 2008 is looking even better. Sure they're not going to concentrate on us, we live on the bleeding edge, but out of the 115.5 devices Nokia shipped in the first 3 months of this year only 14.6 million of those were S60 powered. Of those 14.6 million close to 10 million were Nseries.
You're bored because you want Nokia to create something for that 9% of the market, when in reality the money being made in this industry now is in the low and mid end range of devices. If I have to wait a bit longer to get the "N95 successor" I will. I'm more worried about getting the common man to realize what I did, many moons ago, that having a device connected to the internet, always with you in your pocket, with the ability to do multiple things at once, is not only an awesome thing, but for that person to make himself regret not buying such a device sooner.
The N95 did not kill Nokia, it made Nokia a company world renowned for technical expertise and knowledgeable about understanding the future we're all going to experiance at one point or another..
@khouryrt: The N95 put Nokia back at the top for top end handsets IMO, but they haven't improved on that, still sitting on where the N95 came in at (more than a year ago now). New devices yes, but progressed? Not much. The iPhone came to kick everyone's ass, but it failed due to stupid closed platform and contract and operator restrictions. If Apple had been smart and put it out on all operators it would have sold 5x times more if not even more!
The N95 survived due it's high features i.e 5MP, GPS, HSDPA, if the iPhone had HSDPA I would have got one.
Nokia is lucky in a way Apple tripped over and fell on it's face on the first hurdle, the next I'm not sure it will...
@stefan i knew you were going to quote that post, and everyday i remember you saying 2008 will be the year we all wait for 2009, something i knew myself but never quite got around to voice it, because i knew myself that i was waiting for some flagship touch device and i knew that there's nothing nokia would release in the middle that will WOW me to death. that's why i praised that editorial when i read it, because i knew you just voiced my thoughts.
coming on to this jaiku, i started it not because i wanted to slam the n95 or praise it, i started it because i wanted comments from all bloggers about it, cuz frankly i am getting bored of those "boredom" posts. i didn't want to post my own opinion here, but keep it to SG, but I think you voiced my thoughts again. Getting n95-like technology to the average consumer, be it with the n95 itself getting cheaper, or with the more affordable n82 (compared to the original price of the n95-1), or with other midrange'ish devices that have one or two or more features from the n95 (6220 & n78) is much more important now. A technology by itself doesn't seriously stand out if it's reserved to über geeks, but if it gets to the hands of the normobs, as is everyone calling them now, it has the power to be established and gives the freedom to build upon it.
Nokia knows that if it puts its foot on the next step of the ladder, only a few will follow, but if it waits a little bit for those behind to catch up, it will have more chances of succeeding at not only putting one foot on the ladder, but both of them, and getting a good grip out of it.
I will leave out with one comparison, nokia is playing the game more like rugby, and less like basketball, apple i think are playing it basketball :) will develop the comparison tomorrow in the full post
It's already happening, too. Look at the 6220 Classic. Bloggers and 'tech leaders' have a hard time grasping it, but it's the high-end features coming to the mid-tier handsets, specially at the going price.
I also agree that our hardware currently is somewhat like our brains. We're amazed at what they can do, and even more amazed that humans only use what, 10% of their brain's abilities? We can all think of usage scenarios that the hardware is currently capable of, the only thing is that we're not developers, and we don't know how to write the software to do it.
An example of this is VOIP video calling. There's not a single hardware or network limitation as to why this won't work, specially since our phones ahve WiFi and HSDPA now. It's only a matter of the software being written.
@rcadden: imo voip video would require processors a tad faster than what we have today.
And about everything else: sure, the 6220 (and let's not forget the 6120, the first phone that took S60 truly to the masses) is a great step in the right direction. However, normobs know nothing about S60 or smartphones or open OSs. They will choose based solely on features, and while the 6220 delivers there, its price imo makes it stand on the top level of the mid-end market. True mid-end devices, that feature- (and design-) wise trump the competition are very rare from Nokia. And it's a shame. Oh, and they should hire the guys at Samsung who design their sliding mechanisms. There is absolutely no point in comparing the best S60 slider to the Samsungs. And these are things that normobs feel immediately, upon their first touch of the phone. Sure, we all know software is the thing, but that's just us being ahead of our fellow earthlings.
I'd like an S60 device that has a very good 3.2 Mpx camera (which is what matters to most consumers, whether we like it or not) at around 150-180 euros. That should look amazing (which actually means unlike the competition, see what Moto did with the razr and LG with the Chocolate) and, obviously, since it should be S60, do everything we're used to.
They saw all the buzz being generated by the iPhone and they didn't apply any of that buzz the the N95.
They saw that the iPhone would auto-screen rotation and have only now started to add it to the 8GB model.
To Nokia, the N95 is just another device - one to be be given the same dreary managment attention as every previous Nokia phone.
To Apple, the iPhone is an event. Apple's success hinges on convincing everyone that it's a viable player - and they have.
Nokia rested on their laurels and have been punished for it.
Look at the (official)Nokia forums, the blogs, the software updates. It's like they only paying half the attention that they should be.
New firmware for the N95 should be as much as an event as the iPhone firmware, the release of Vista or the new Ubuntu. Instead it's shuffled out with an apologetic whisper rather than a triumphant roar.
Theoretically, the N95 kicks the iPhone's arse. It has more apps, better technology and a more attractive price point.
What it doesn't have, seemingly, is anyone at Nokia who cares.
@vodaclone: I don't think they don't care, I think they have no idea how to show that (like Apple does). There's a marketing lesson to be learned here. A big one.
OT @bvlad Video calling over IP is already here, sorta. The standard video call functionality in 3G is over IP (well, the video is, the sound is CS so that if there's not enough bandwidth you can still be heard). Of course, there's no practical way to, say, video conference with someone on a computer (that I'm aware of).
So, the processors in even the most basic 3G phones can handle it - and there's certainly enough bandwidth in HSPA.
It all started with Nokia producing more and making the consumer want more. The N95 didn't kill or revive Nokia, it was way back this happened, and one device which surely revolutionized the need of improvement was the N93.
It is no lie to anyone that we were all waiting for that metamorphic "high-resolution" camera device, and it showed the mobile phone industry that Nokia can do anything in any form. It did the same in the N73, although some pieces were missing.
This showed that Nokia was evolving with every phone it released, and who was very excited about this? Us, the internet community. We provided answers to Nokia on how to capture the regular user, we simply had to name the components, and Nokia had to choose the design.
The launch of the N95 said exactly that, it looked like a simple camera improvement from the N93 and the addition of a GPS, but in fact, it opened a new frontier for Nokia.
All these devices kept on showing innovation and improvement, and this makes the consumer want exactly that, and this is the reason why the N96 is a "disappointment", while it's sort of a refinement from the N95.
The "crowd" is now always expected to see something better from Nokia, simply because Nokia got them used to it, and now when there's no breakthrough, everyone feels like Nokia missed out on something. A S60 Touch UI was expected, not because of the touchscreen, but simply because it's something completely new.
Nokia won out of this, as it gets everyone talking and expecting a technological revolution, and by frequently releasing phones which are such revolutions (N93, N95), it makes sure people stick to Nokia, and always wait for something better. Consumers just have to be patient.
Was the N95 released in the right time? Yes, there could have been a larger time gap to allow the N93 to sell, but that might not have been possible as it was ugly and not everyone would carry a brick in their pockets just for the features.
Just stopping in to say great discussion. Love the points, and having gotten my head into Nokia a bit over the past year, I can agree that 08 does seem a lot like a transistion year. That being said, the N95 is still being grasped in concept and execution by the non-so-techies. Those high end midrange mobiles will do a lot here to push things to their mindset. After that, the door to what is cutting edge for the next cycle of innovation would be here, and I would think that it would be a sight to behold.
The N95 only told Apple that they needed to make sure that they had a sufficient bang. Upon moving their piece, Nokia needs to respond in the same. Something along the lines of the Morph concept would go a long ways towards keeping that wow factor that Nokia is more than capable of.
The main thing that stands out to me why Nokia is different to the rest is that they could quite easily build the 'ultimate' device, but choose not to. There is no real business sense for them to do so.
Instead, they choose to almost make the ultimate device, but then miss something off the spec sheet so that it appeals to some people, but not others.
You see, I could buy any of the SE walkman line, and I know they all have the exact same features. I cannot do that with a Nokia.
I currently want to buy (in the next couple of months) an S60 candybar, with FP2 and a xenon flash. I can't.
I can have a candybar, but with xenon OR FP2, not both.
What do I do? I decide which feature is more important to me, and then chose my device accordingly.
In a few months Nokia will release an FP2 device, with a xenon flash. What do I do? I buy that as well.
So buy doing what they are doing, Nokia has sold me 2 phones instead of one. Good skills, as far as they are concerned.
Some people seem to treat Nokia as their friend. Bollocks, they just want your money as much as the dodgy bloke down the market with one eye. You can't trust either.
I would say the N95 is almost a non-issue here. Although I do not pay close attention to tech, I am a pretty big gadget guy, at least following the new ones, even if I cannot afford to play with all the newest fun toys. Other than the cheap, cheap low-end Nokia phones, I do not know anyone else with a Nokia phone, and certainly not an S60 phone.
This is likely known by all of you, but here in the US, mobile phone decisions are made almost solely on the network and the amount of "anytime minutes" it provides. The phone is an afterthought, and the high-end market dominated by blackberries, and some treo devices, as well as a couple windows CE (mobile, whatever) devices. The iPhone is the first and only phone to break the yoke of the network providers' domination. And it is by far the "status symbol" phone in America. I think this trend will continue, assuming the providers continue to tout their device-agnostic campaigns. Time will tell, and this is a trend upon which Nokia needs to capitalize.
I do not have an N95. Simply put, I cannot afford one. When getting my most recent phone, I had the option of the Nokia 6555, the Samsung 737, some version of the RAZR, and the N75, all for about $20 + contract. Getting the N75 was difficult, with the phone vendor actually fighting me on it, stating it was basically the same as the other phones, and even less so in many features. The point here is that the marketing here falls short, with not even the salespeople knowing the capabilities of the phones, beyond "how many mp3s it can store".
The N95 was and is an amazing hardware device - unfortunately, for perhaps that first time in Nokia's glorious history, the hardware (design and specification) made the software look painfully pathetic. Nokia may have gotten away with this awkward dance had it not been for Apple. The iPhone has an almost perfect blend of hardware and software. It's as if both were conceived, developed and refined by one company - which of course they were.
There are just so many hardware features on the N95 that do not get used by most owners simply because the act doing so is too painful, thanks mostly to poor software.
The next 5 years will see a massive change in the way we are augmented by our technology. A few players seem to have foreseen this change coming and have positioned themselves rather nicely. I not convinced quite yet that Nokia are one of them, but it looks as if we might have to wait until 2009 to find out!
24 comments so far
Was the n95 released one year too early, compared to the market? What would've happened if Nokia released the N95 this year? Would they have avoided the "boredom" that everyone is talking about, because they are just releasing more or less re-makes of the n95 (n95 8gb, n82, n96)? Or did they do right by being so ahead of the others and grabbing that market as long as it was still free?
And about the post concept, just comment here and i will try to put a post of it all up tomorrow or saturday on Symbian-Guru.
1 year, 9 months ago by khouryrt
First of all, great idea!
I think that it was announced way before it should have been, but I've got nothing against the release date. This is an interesting discussion imho. It most surely helped Nokia in many ways, I dunno about "revive", I think they were doing well even before. And the boredom...I just read a post by @SteveRowlands where he ponders if Sony Ericsson aren't going the Moto way by releasing endless copies of the same few core models. I for one do hope that Nokia isn't heading that way too. It's not there yet (I mean where SE is today), but hopefully they won't forget the word "innovation" altogether.
I think that the N95 had huge potential and if the iPhone had not been released, it would have sold a lot better, at least in the US. I mean, when it was announced, it was THE thing. Problem is, and this is turning into more and more of an issue for Nokia, because so many months passed between the announcement and the release, the hype surrounding it slowly went away, and it didn't ever return. Not like it was in September '06, anyway.
But I think Nokia has another very very difficult challange ahead. Maybe it will not manifest this year, maybe not the next, but they have a problem in the mid-market. They absolutely rule low-end and high-end (numbers speak), but mid-market-wise...nothing. No edge over the competition other than the brand. I'm hoping the 5800 (please, please, let noone ever mention the 'name' tube again!) will fit in there, because that's where I see it. And if it was designed with the mid-end in mind, I think all will be well for Nokia.
1 year, 9 months ago by bvlad
The N95 certainly did not kill Nokia if sales figures are anything to go by. It was certainly a phone ahead of its time in one manner but not the other i.e. as far as manufacturers were concerned they had no answer to the device and it came to the market almost unparallelled. But at the same time, the consumers were more than ready for it, they crowned it the king the moment it landed and since that day stand loyal to the phone. I am a firm believer in the policy of releasing cutting edge technology to people as soon as its ready and not wait till it might make more economic sense. What Nokia needs to do is deliver state of the art stuff to people and then work twice as hard to innovate and make something good again rather than just giving the consumers bits and pieces of the pie to keep them interested. The former approach will earn you loyalty; the later might work for a while but people will start hating it when something new keep on popping up every six months when it could all have come together.
PS: Was writing in a small text box from the mobile and its past 2 at night here so pardon me if I wasn't coherent enough!
1 year, 9 months ago by vaibhavsharma
Nah, I don't think the N95 killed Nokia. I think it was great that they had a powerhouse device to go up against the iPhone when it came out. But, I think they might be suffering from Moto-itis, making so many different versions of the N95 and other phones based on the N95, as Moto did with the RAZR. They need to stop this and go on to the next stage, like maybe refreshing the UI to make some things a bit easier to use for newbies, or just really create a legitimate successor to the N95 with better specs, or the new version of S60 3rd edition, etc. What exactly should that entail? I don't know.
Personally, I moved back to my SE P1i because I feel like touchscreen devices offer a lot faster UI access compared to using a d-pad to scroll around (gah, so sloooow). I'm not saying that ultimately touchscreen devices are better than non-touchscreen, but I think improving the UI to make it more immediately accessible would go a long way. And I've griped before about how slow it is to bring up the camera app on the N95 (and worse on the E90). Since so many people use their cameraphones as their sole digital camera, making the camera app work like a "real" camera would be very useful.
Also, perhaps some more innovative or different form factors? I know a lot of people aren't big on clamshells, but I would love something like the N93i with N95-ish (and beyond) features... Or maybe a dual-slider like the Helio Ocean? Not innovative, but a nice way to provide QWERTY and a standalone number pad.
1 year, 9 months ago by jezlyn
good stuff, keep'em coming guys, i won't comment here myself, i'll let the conversation flow :D
1 year, 9 months ago by khouryrt
Offtopic: I also had one more worry that S60/Nokia in they endeavor to go touch might fundamently change S60 and call it revolutionising the UI. I think the current setup is great, it needs a few tweaks here and there but it doesn't need an overhall. But from the look of things I can put my fears to rest as S60 touch isn't too diff from what we use today.
And far as touch v. Non touch goes I won't get into that however non touch is equally fast. Eg. In the menu just use the keypad shortcut to open any app as you would touch the screen it'll take the same time if not less!
1 year, 9 months ago by vaibhavsharma
@vaibhavsharma: When I talk about the slowness of non-touch UI v. touch UI, I guess I'm talking about the browser for a lot of the scenarios. I can easily touch the scroll bar and scroll through a webpage, and then tap directly on a link to open it. And even better, on the P1i, in Opera Mobile, I can open a link in a new tab by holding down and choosing to open the link in a new tab in the context menu. For me, that makes mobile browsing so much nicer. The S60 browser just isn't as fast in that case, IMO. Even with that overview thumbnail version that you can choose to have pop up, I never found it to be that helpful for navigating a big webpage.
And neither the UIQ3 or S60 browsers can compete with the ease of mobile Safari, IMO.
Anyway, this is not really a discussion about UI, rather the impact or non-impact of the N95, so I'll stop now. sheepish grin
1 year, 9 months ago by jezlyn
I don't think the N95 would have sold so well if it wasn't for the iPhone since everyone, and I mean everyone, made a Nokia N95 vs. iPhone post and that opened a lot of people eyes, especially in America, to the competition from Finland.
I do think the N95 came out with some unsatisfactory firmware. It’s when they added AGPS support in v12 or v11, can't remember, but after the device shipped it really started to shine. The demand paging that came more recently really rocked.
All of you are bored because you're excited at the potential of these devices. The N95 opened your eyes to a world where you really have one device that can do everything. You may think you're a dork by calling Nseries devices multimedia computers, but you're not far off from the truth. Thing is the computer industry, in terms of how often hardware gets upgraded, prices drop, faster processors, more dies, etc. etc. moves faster than the mobile phone industry.
You see changes occurring weekly with new web 2.0 services coming out, you see changes twice a year with the spring and fall PC refresh cycle and now you're bored out of mind because the N95 is basically a little over a year old (started shipping in volume in March 2007) and you want something new.
A majority of people will never buy a Nokia n95, they'll buy something cheaper, but they'll buy something Nokia related and S60 powered because they know in their heart of hearts that the N95 is the best.
The N95 did not kill Nokia, far from it, it made the industry realize that wow, all of these things can be done on a mobile phone, which is fucking insane. It made consumers go wow, a phone that can do all this? I can't buy it because it costs too much, but I admire products from a company who can make something that technically advanced.
I bet in the country you're from people still have phones that are more than 2 years old, they'll get something N95 like this year or next year for half the price of the original N95 and love it since that level of sophistication is now available for mid range prices.
2008 is looking to be a transitional year, and I said it this blog post: http://www.intomobile.com/2008/01/21/what-did-nokia-do-in-2007-and-what-can-we-expect-in-2008.html
Getting N95 like technology into more people's hand is more important, in my opinion, than making something better than the N95. That is what 2009 will be for, crowning a new flagship. The mobile phone industry has 2 year cycles; it's just something we're going to have to live with.
One more thing ... to quote Microsoft, it really is the "magic of software" that excites us, not the devices themselves. We want new applications, new experiences, more than we want new devices.
Satisfying that need however requires much more talent than waiting for the prices of components to drop and a designer to make something pretty so you can go out and buy yet another mobile phone.
That's my 2 cents. Nokia had an excellent 2007 and 2008 is looking even better. Sure they're not going to concentrate on us, we live on the bleeding edge, but out of the 115.5 devices Nokia shipped in the first 3 months of this year only 14.6 million of those were S60 powered. Of those 14.6 million close to 10 million were Nseries.
You're bored because you want Nokia to create something for that 9% of the market, when in reality the money being made in this industry now is in the low and mid end range of devices. If I have to wait a bit longer to get the "N95 successor" I will. I'm more worried about getting the common man to realize what I did, many moons ago, that having a device connected to the internet, always with you in your pocket, with the ability to do multiple things at once, is not only an awesome thing, but for that person to make himself regret not buying such a device sooner.
The N95 did not kill Nokia, it made Nokia a company world renowned for technical expertise and knowledgeable about understanding the future we're all going to experiance at one point or another..
1 year, 9 months ago by constantine
@khouryrt: The N95 put Nokia back at the top for top end handsets IMO, but they haven't improved on that, still sitting on where the N95 came in at (more than a year ago now). New devices yes, but progressed? Not much. The iPhone came to kick everyone's ass, but it failed due to stupid closed platform and contract and operator restrictions. If Apple had been smart and put it out on all operators it would have sold 5x times more if not even more! The N95 survived due it's high features i.e 5MP, GPS, HSDPA, if the iPhone had HSDPA I would have got one.
Nokia is lucky in a way Apple tripped over and fell on it's face on the first hurdle, the next I'm not sure it will...
1 year, 9 months ago by adonisdemon
@stefan i knew you were going to quote that post, and everyday i remember you saying 2008 will be the year we all wait for 2009, something i knew myself but never quite got around to voice it, because i knew myself that i was waiting for some flagship touch device and i knew that there's nothing nokia would release in the middle that will WOW me to death. that's why i praised that editorial when i read it, because i knew you just voiced my thoughts.
coming on to this jaiku, i started it not because i wanted to slam the n95 or praise it, i started it because i wanted comments from all bloggers about it, cuz frankly i am getting bored of those "boredom" posts. i didn't want to post my own opinion here, but keep it to SG, but I think you voiced my thoughts again. Getting n95-like technology to the average consumer, be it with the n95 itself getting cheaper, or with the more affordable n82 (compared to the original price of the n95-1), or with other midrange'ish devices that have one or two or more features from the n95 (6220 & n78) is much more important now. A technology by itself doesn't seriously stand out if it's reserved to über geeks, but if it gets to the hands of the normobs, as is everyone calling them now, it has the power to be established and gives the freedom to build upon it.
Nokia knows that if it puts its foot on the next step of the ladder, only a few will follow, but if it waits a little bit for those behind to catch up, it will have more chances of succeeding at not only putting one foot on the ladder, but both of them, and getting a good grip out of it.
I will leave out with one comparison, nokia is playing the game more like rugby, and less like basketball, apple i think are playing it basketball :) will develop the comparison tomorrow in the full post
1 year, 9 months ago by khouryrt
It's already happening, too. Look at the 6220 Classic. Bloggers and 'tech leaders' have a hard time grasping it, but it's the high-end features coming to the mid-tier handsets, specially at the going price.
I also agree that our hardware currently is somewhat like our brains. We're amazed at what they can do, and even more amazed that humans only use what, 10% of their brain's abilities? We can all think of usage scenarios that the hardware is currently capable of, the only thing is that we're not developers, and we don't know how to write the software to do it.
An example of this is VOIP video calling. There's not a single hardware or network limitation as to why this won't work, specially since our phones ahve WiFi and HSDPA now. It's only a matter of the software being written.
1 year, 9 months ago by rcadden
@rcadden: imo voip video would require processors a tad faster than what we have today.
And about everything else: sure, the 6220 (and let's not forget the 6120, the first phone that took S60 truly to the masses) is a great step in the right direction. However, normobs know nothing about S60 or smartphones or open OSs. They will choose based solely on features, and while the 6220 delivers there, its price imo makes it stand on the top level of the mid-end market. True mid-end devices, that feature- (and design-) wise trump the competition are very rare from Nokia. And it's a shame. Oh, and they should hire the guys at Samsung who design their sliding mechanisms. There is absolutely no point in comparing the best S60 slider to the Samsungs. And these are things that normobs feel immediately, upon their first touch of the phone. Sure, we all know software is the thing, but that's just us being ahead of our fellow earthlings.
I'd like an S60 device that has a very good 3.2 Mpx camera (which is what matters to most consumers, whether we like it or not) at around 150-180 euros. That should look amazing (which actually means unlike the competition, see what Moto did with the razr and LG with the Chocolate) and, obviously, since it should be S60, do everything we're used to.
1 year, 9 months ago by bvlad
The N95 didn't kill Nokia. Nokia killed the N95.
They saw all the buzz being generated by the iPhone and they didn't apply any of that buzz the the N95.
They saw that the iPhone would auto-screen rotation and have only now started to add it to the 8GB model.
To Nokia, the N95 is just another device - one to be be given the same dreary managment attention as every previous Nokia phone. To Apple, the iPhone is an event. Apple's success hinges on convincing everyone that it's a viable player - and they have. Nokia rested on their laurels and have been punished for it.
Look at the (official)Nokia forums, the blogs, the software updates. It's like they only paying half the attention that they should be.
New firmware for the N95 should be as much as an event as the iPhone firmware, the release of Vista or the new Ubuntu. Instead it's shuffled out with an apologetic whisper rather than a triumphant roar.
Theoretically, the N95 kicks the iPhone's arse. It has more apps, better technology and a more attractive price point.
What it doesn't have, seemingly, is anyone at Nokia who cares.
1 year, 9 months ago by vodaclone
@vodaclone: I don't think they don't care, I think they have no idea how to show that (like Apple does). There's a marketing lesson to be learned here. A big one.
1 year, 9 months ago by bvlad
OT @bvlad Video calling over IP is already here, sorta. The standard video call functionality in 3G is over IP (well, the video is, the sound is CS so that if there's not enough bandwidth you can still be heard). Of course, there's no practical way to, say, video conference with someone on a computer (that I'm aware of). So, the processors in even the most basic 3G phones can handle it - and there's certainly enough bandwidth in HSPA.
1 year, 9 months ago by vodaclone
It all started with Nokia producing more and making the consumer want more. The N95 didn't kill or revive Nokia, it was way back this happened, and one device which surely revolutionized the need of improvement was the N93. It is no lie to anyone that we were all waiting for that metamorphic "high-resolution" camera device, and it showed the mobile phone industry that Nokia can do anything in any form. It did the same in the N73, although some pieces were missing. This showed that Nokia was evolving with every phone it released, and who was very excited about this? Us, the internet community. We provided answers to Nokia on how to capture the regular user, we simply had to name the components, and Nokia had to choose the design. The launch of the N95 said exactly that, it looked like a simple camera improvement from the N93 and the addition of a GPS, but in fact, it opened a new frontier for Nokia. All these devices kept on showing innovation and improvement, and this makes the consumer want exactly that, and this is the reason why the N96 is a "disappointment", while it's sort of a refinement from the N95. The "crowd" is now always expected to see something better from Nokia, simply because Nokia got them used to it, and now when there's no breakthrough, everyone feels like Nokia missed out on something. A S60 Touch UI was expected, not because of the touchscreen, but simply because it's something completely new. Nokia won out of this, as it gets everyone talking and expecting a technological revolution, and by frequently releasing phones which are such revolutions (N93, N95), it makes sure people stick to Nokia, and always wait for something better. Consumers just have to be patient. Was the N95 released in the right time? Yes, there could have been a larger time gap to allow the N93 to sell, but that might not have been possible as it was ugly and not everyone would carry a brick in their pockets just for the features.
Uff! enjoy writing the article @khouryrt
1 year, 9 months ago by merajchhaya
Just stopping in to say great discussion. Love the points, and having gotten my head into Nokia a bit over the past year, I can agree that 08 does seem a lot like a transistion year. That being said, the N95 is still being grasped in concept and execution by the non-so-techies. Those high end midrange mobiles will do a lot here to push things to their mindset. After that, the door to what is cutting edge for the next cycle of innovation would be here, and I would think that it would be a sight to behold.
The N95 only told Apple that they needed to make sure that they had a sufficient bang. Upon moving their piece, Nokia needs to respond in the same. Something along the lines of the Morph concept would go a long ways towards keeping that wow factor that Nokia is more than capable of.
1 year, 9 months ago by arjw
The main thing that stands out to me why Nokia is different to the rest is that they could quite easily build the 'ultimate' device, but choose not to. There is no real business sense for them to do so.
Instead, they choose to almost make the ultimate device, but then miss something off the spec sheet so that it appeals to some people, but not others.
You see, I could buy any of the SE walkman line, and I know they all have the exact same features. I cannot do that with a Nokia.
I currently want to buy (in the next couple of months) an S60 candybar, with FP2 and a xenon flash. I can't.
I can have a candybar, but with xenon OR FP2, not both.
What do I do? I decide which feature is more important to me, and then chose my device accordingly.
In a few months Nokia will release an FP2 device, with a xenon flash. What do I do? I buy that as well.
So buy doing what they are doing, Nokia has sold me 2 phones instead of one. Good skills, as far as they are concerned.
Some people seem to treat Nokia as their friend. Bollocks, they just want your money as much as the dodgy bloke down the market with one eye. You can't trust either.
1 year, 9 months ago by SteveRowlands
**Addition to my spec in the previous post: I want an FP2 device, with xenon, and wifi.
1 year, 9 months ago by SteveRowlands
I would say the N95 is almost a non-issue here. Although I do not pay close attention to tech, I am a pretty big gadget guy, at least following the new ones, even if I cannot afford to play with all the newest fun toys. Other than the cheap, cheap low-end Nokia phones, I do not know anyone else with a Nokia phone, and certainly not an S60 phone.
This is likely known by all of you, but here in the US, mobile phone decisions are made almost solely on the network and the amount of "anytime minutes" it provides. The phone is an afterthought, and the high-end market dominated by blackberries, and some treo devices, as well as a couple windows CE (mobile, whatever) devices. The iPhone is the first and only phone to break the yoke of the network providers' domination. And it is by far the "status symbol" phone in America. I think this trend will continue, assuming the providers continue to tout their device-agnostic campaigns. Time will tell, and this is a trend upon which Nokia needs to capitalize.
I do not have an N95. Simply put, I cannot afford one. When getting my most recent phone, I had the option of the Nokia 6555, the Samsung 737, some version of the RAZR, and the N75, all for about $20 + contract. Getting the N75 was difficult, with the phone vendor actually fighting me on it, stating it was basically the same as the other phones, and even less so in many features. The point here is that the marketing here falls short, with not even the salespeople knowing the capabilities of the phones, beyond "how many mp3s it can store".
1 year, 9 months ago by bogart
First up - truly great thread Rita!
The N95 was and is an amazing hardware device - unfortunately, for perhaps that first time in Nokia's glorious history, the hardware (design and specification) made the software look painfully pathetic. Nokia may have gotten away with this awkward dance had it not been for Apple. The iPhone has an almost perfect blend of hardware and software. It's as if both were conceived, developed and refined by one company - which of course they were.
There are just so many hardware features on the N95 that do not get used by most owners simply because the act doing so is too painful, thanks mostly to poor software.
The next 5 years will see a massive change in the way we are augmented by our technology. A few players seem to have foreseen this change coming and have positioned themselves rather nicely. I not convinced quite yet that Nokia are one of them, but it looks as if we might have to wait until 2009 to find out!
1 year, 9 months ago by thecreativelife
saw this trailed on http://smstextnews.com - looking forward to reading it all! :)
1 year, 9 months ago by whatleydude
Discussion made it on Nokia Conversations (mobile link follows) http://mippin.com/mip/plus/story.jsp?&id=14621&c=-1&s=0&sid=7585498&cat=Mobile
1 year, 9 months ago by bogart
I see @khouryrt has posted: http://www.symbian-guru.com/welcome/2008/04/did-the-n95-kill-nokia-or-revive-it-part-1.html
and so did I :) http://phonereport.info/2008/04/25/how-did-the-n95-affect-nokias-strategy/
1 year, 9 months ago by merajchhaya