Nokia Number 2

As feared/suspected, Nokia is now second to Samsung as global handset sales leader for Q1 2012.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/04/12/has-samsung-overtaken-nokia-in-handset-sales/

Samsung sold 93.5M vs 82.7M for Nokia. That’s still shy of Nokia’s 123.7M of Q4 2010 though both Samsung and Apple have overtaken Nokia’s records for smartphone sales in one quarter.

 http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_q1_results_are_out_takes_top_spot_from_nokia-news-4171.php

Samsung had always targeted Nokia’s crown, with a date target of around 2014. Inevitably, one way or another, Samsung saw that they would overtake Nokia. In the UK at least, it was a struggle for many years with Samsung frequently snatching the top spot amongst British consumers liking their slim, curvy,  feminine designs.

Perhaps at the very least, we would have all expected that to be a brutal fight with both fighters on top form, not Nokia falling from grace. I guess it would have been the case were Samsung still fighting Nokia using Symbian, but Samsung and co attacked using Android. Nokia, perhaps, could have handled iPhones on their own, but not the Droid march, at least not with the handsets we saw. Credit where credit is due, Android at the beginning was almost like iOS but cheaper. Gradually it evolved to gain more features, packing more features, more options, ending up everywhere, with Samsung delivering, sadly for Nokia fans, quite impressive handsets that push the specs race. They’re not without problems of course, but negligible in the grand scheme of things.

14 years is a long time to have been at the top. Nokia, which once eclipsed Motorola is now in the shadows of Samsung. But it’s not over. Nokia is not out for the count.

We’ve still got the likes of the blindingly amazing Nokia 808 PureView that Samsung, Apple and co and only dream of becoming close to. There’s still much to be proud of at Nokia. There’s still work on going with gesture based SWIPE UI – at least according to rumours. We have seen glimmers at least of FP2 which, if it delivers like FP1, could be very interesting. A lot rests on the success of the extremely controversial Windows OS, for both Nokia tablets and phones, namely the 8 variety. But even that might not guarantee success for Nokia should they be outpaced by competitors who might also see something in Windows 8/Windows Phone 8 portable devices.

We need to remain calm, and have sisu (I don’t quite know how to correctly use this term since it’s Finnish)

Sisu is a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity.

It is one plucky drama of a boot maker turned hero in mobile, king and then underdog. Once at the top, battered to the point where everyone thinks it’s game over. But not yet. We still have hope. Maybe not number 1, maybe no longer having the lead they once had, but back to producing products that many millions loved and adored, associating the Nokia name with the warm feeling of awesomeness Nokia fans must have experienced some time or another. Focus now on products, on customer satisfaction, on timely products.

Cheers KF for the tip.

Category: Nokia