Nokia Sees More Custom Handset Deals With Operators In 05
CANNES, France -(Dow Jones)- Nokia Corp. (NOK) expects to agree more customized handset deals with wireless operators in 2005, Vice President Mobile Phones Kai Oistamo said late Monday in an interview.
Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Monday it has agreed its first operator customization deal, with China Mobile Communications Corp. (MCC.YY), which will use the Nokia 6102 folding camera phone exclusively in the markets it operates in.
"We are talking to more operators about such a deal," Oistamo told Dow Jones Newswires at the 3GSM industry conference in Cannes, southern France. He didn't give further details but said he expects more of these deals in 2005.
Nokia was late to agree to provide more operator customization, one factor that allowed rivals such as Sharp Corp. (6753.TO) and LG Electronics Inc. (066570.SE) to take business as they were willing to adapt handsets more to operators' requirements.
The Finnish company's renewed operator customization strategy is aimed at mobile operators that want phones with company-specific user interfaces, branded access to operator services, wallpaper, screensavers and ringtones, Nokia said Monday.
China Mobile's customized phone will include menus and services specific to China Mobile.
In addition to the successful introduction of smart phones, Oistamo said he expects 2005 to be a big year for emerging markets.
"The speed at which the emerging markets have been growing has surprised us," he said. "However, the global penetration of mobile phones is just around 20%, so there is a lot of room for growth," he said, adding that the need for phones is universal.
On Monday, the interest group GSM Association said one of Nokia's biggest rivals, Motorola Inc. (MOT), has won a tender for an order from a group of mobile operators in emerging markets. Motorola will sell low-cost phones for less than $40 to operators including Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (S12.SG) and Telenor ASA (TELN).
Nokia also tried to win that tender, Oistamo said. In a reaction to losing to Motorola, Oistamo said: "The contract is only from a handful of operators and we'll have to see how that goes."
Oistamo stressed that even in emerging countries, it isn't just the price of a handset that's important.
"Different markets demand different approaches. For example, in India, we have a phone on the market that's equipped with a flashlight and that feature is successful because of the many power outages. Also, a phone for a country like that needs to be dustproof," he said.
"Growing in emerging markets is incremental to growing in the high end of the market, but it's a different type of growth," he said, pointing to the high potential for volume growth at the lower end of the market.
-By Stefan Simons, Dow Jones Newswires; 31 20 6260770; stefan.simons@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 15th February 2005
