Now-pulled Picasa shots already told us that Nokia’s upcoming E6-00 would likely be sporting an 8 megapixel camera, but now we’ve got another scrap of evidence that points to a notable feature: an honest-to-goodness 640 x 480 display, which would be a small upgrade from the 640 x 360 “nHD” resolution Espoo’s used on some of its high-end models as of late. The information comes to us via an official user agent profile for the device that’s up on Nokia’s site, so it’s just about as official as it gets; there was also a Wi-Fi Alliance certification online at some point, though it’s since been pulled. Needless to say, it seems the odds are at least decent that we could see this launch at MWC in a few days — especially since the company has finally scheduled a press event there.
Nokia is secretly readying an updated UI for MeeGo devices, with the Qt developers responsible for the new UI components for Qt Quick announcing that, for the moment, they will not be pushing out MeeGo changes to the public. The decision comes as the new MeeGo UI starts “to become feature complete”; Nokia won’t confirm any timescale at this stage, but with MWC 2011 approaching and new CEO Stephen Elop making his first real public debut to talk about the company’s strategies moving forward, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was intended to keep a Barcelona reveal under wraps.
According to Qt\QML Product Manager Henrik Hartz, the closed operations are “a one-off for business reasons” and not a sign that Nokia plans to make more future development off-the-radar from third-party coders until it’s ready for public consumption. The exact nature of the UI changes are unknown, though Nokia is believed to have been experimenting with significantly higher-powered hardware for MeeGo devices than the relatively mainstream chips used in its Symbian devices.
MeeGo’s early UI was described as underwhelming in one unofficial preview of the Nokia N9, and the company later suggested it needed to “regain the imagination” with updated UI dynamics. “If you look at touchscreen devices today … they’re immersive, they require our full attention” Nokia SVP of design Marko Ahtisaari claimed at LeWeb 2010 back in December 2010, ”we’re not doing good enough for better one-handed use, for better using our devices without them demanding our attention.” The updated UI will have to suit not only smartphone-scale handsets, but tablets as well.
The Nokia E7 inches ever closer, with the company’s Indonesian site the latest to push the sliding QWERTY smartphone. Expected sometime in February, the E7 has found itself a 6,800,000 Indonesian Rupiahs ($749) unlocked and SIM-free, and according to SlashGear tipster Fransiscus is already being heavily promoted in the country.
In fact, he says Nokia has taken out a full three page newspaper ad for the E7 there, which would certainly imply that the Symbian smartphone is due sooner rather than later. Nokia announced shrinking market share predictions as part of its 2010 financial results last week, with the delayed E7 making no contribution to Q4′s sales as originally expected when the device was officially announced at Nokia World 2010.
With Mobile World Congress fast approaching, it looks like the E7 will land at roughly the same time as we see a bevy of new devices – including some dual-core handsets – from rivals. Nokia has been tipped to be preparing something “interesting” for the show, but so far – beyond whispers of MeeGo devices, either tablets or phones – there’s no confirmation on what exactly that could be.
Update: Fransiscus has come through with scans of the three-page advert:
Apple has been pushed from its number four spot in the top worldwide mobile phone market, with ZTE entering the top five ranking and pushing the iPhone maker down to fifth place. That’s according to IDC‘s Q4 2010 mobile phone market research, which pegs Nokia as maintaining the top spot despite a 2.4-percent slip in share. It’s worth noting, of course, that this particular research covers mobile phones overall, rather than simply smartphones.
Overall, IDC reckons the global mobile phone market grew 17.9-percent in the last quarter of 2010, exceeding 401m units of shipped devices. Altogether that makes 1.39bn shipments in 2010 as a whole, an 18.5-percent increase over 2009. ZTE’s success – the first time in IDC’s rankings that the company has broken into the top five – is put down to its low-cost portfolio of feature phones and smartphones, increasingly popular as developing users upgrade to affordable data-capable devices.
Samsung’s success echoes the company’s financial results, published earlier today, in which the company announced over 80m devices sold in Q4 2010. IDC’s smartphone-specific research is due to be published next week.
Press Release:
Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter, According to IDC
27 Jan 2011
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. Jan. 27, 2010 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10), a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009. Vendors shipped a total of 1.39 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2010, up 18.5% from the 1.17 billion units shipped in 2009.
The strong quarterly and annual growth comes after a weak 2009, which saw the market decline by 1.6%. A stronger economy and a wider array of increasingly affordable smartphones helped lift the market to its highest annual growth rate since 2006 when it grew 22.6%.
“The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. “Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles.”
It’s not just smartphone-focused suppliers that capitalized on the mobile phone market’s renewed growth last year. ZTE, a company that sells primarily lower-cost feature phones in emerging markets, moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 4Q10. It is the first quarter the Chinese handset maker finished among IDC’s Top 5 vendors.
“Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year,” added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list.”
Market Outlook
IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market will be driven largely by smartphone growth through the end of 2014. “Feature phone users looking to do more with their devices will flock to smartphones in the years to come,” noted Restivo. “This trend will help drive smartphone sub-market to grow 43.7% year over year in 2011.”
Regional Analysis
The Asia/Pacific mobile phone landscape was driven by low-cost and high-end devices in 4Q10. Domestic brands in India like G-Five, Micromax, and Karbonn grew with aggressive advertising and branding activities for entry-level phones, while ZTE and Huawei worked closely with carriers to push low-cost Android smartphones in China. High-end smartphones, however, were equally well-received, resulting in higher shipments from Apple, Samsung, and HTC in 4Q10. Korea had the biggest smartphone appetite accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped in 4Q10, up from one-eighth a year ago.
In Western Europe, carrier smartphone promotions motivated more users to scrap their feature phones, resulting in strong smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S, and Blackberry 8520, which were among the region’s top sellers, contributed to the overall market’s growth. Consequently, the feature phones experienced their sharpest decline ever. In CEMA, quarterly volumes breached the 70 million unit threshold for the first time, marked by an influx of Chinese and unbranded handsets. Meanwhile, smartphones experienced brisk growth due to falling prices and more Android-powered devices.
The United States mobile phone market closed out the year with more vendors becoming more active in this space. Market leaders RIM and Apple maintained a healthy lead, while newcomers Dell, Huawei, Kyocera, and Sanyo launched their first smartphones to the U.S. market. In addition, 4G took another step forward with the commercial launch of Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. Similarly, in Canada, the focus was on smartphones. Android-powered devices from multiple players, along with incumbent vendors RIM and Apple, pushed shipment volumes to a new record level.
In Latin America, sustained user interest in smartphones drove the market, resulting in strong results for Nokia, RIM, and Samsung as well as relative newcomer Huawei. Smartphones, as well as QWERTY-enabled feature phones, helped boost social networking and messaging, two fast-growing trends in the market. Finally, Alcatel and ZTE once again thrived in the inexpensive entry-level device market.
Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors
Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the “intense competitive” environment and component shortages. The result was lower feature phone shipments. The company did, however, grow smartphone volume by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter. Nokia launched the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones as well as the C3 combination touchscreen & QWERTY device in the fourth quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis.
Samsung reached a new milestone in 4Q10, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company’s history and improving its profit margins for the second straight quarter. Driving shipment volumes was the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, of which the company sold nearly ten million units worldwide for the year. Similarly, Samsung’s mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets.
LG crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, due in part to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. LG’s smartphone strategy is paying off; the company sold more than a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) are expected later this year. Meanwhile, LG’s feature phones comprised the majority of shipments, but an aging portfolio and lower prices within emerging markets left the company vulnerable to the competition.
ZTE finished the quarter in the number four position with shipments steadily spreading from its home country of China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America. ZTE has also recently made inroads in developed markets such as Western Europe and the U.S. as well as Japan. While most of its shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices. Meanwhile, its S- and C-series entry-level feature phones provided additional competition within emerging markets.
Apple The iPhone maker slipped to the number 5 position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company’s second straight quarter on IDC’s Top 5 list. The iPhone sold particularly well in developed regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe. Apple, which said it could have sold more iPhones last quarter had it been able to make more, is set to introduce the touchscreen device on Verizon next month.
It’s a difficult time for feature phones, with smartphones fast becoming a viable option at the low-end of the market. On the one hand, most users are expecting smartphone features such as touchscreens and WiFi from their feature phones. At the same time, some folks still want an affordable, solid device that focuses primarily on making calls and sending text messages, with the occasional foray into entertainment and data-based communication. The Nokia X3-02 Touch-and-Type (not to be mistaken with the other Nokia X3) attempts to be that device, by adding a dose of touch and WiFi to the venerable Series 40 platform. Does it succeed? Read on.
Nokia needs to “change faster” to keep up with the cellphone market, CEO Stephen Elop has admitted, but it’s his ecosystem comments during the company’s financial results call that have tongues wagging. The Nokia/Android/Windows Phone 7 speculation has proven sturdily resilient to common sense and the Finns’ own denials, and Elop’s suggestion that Nokia “must build, catalyse or join a competitive ecosystem” is unlikely to do much bar fueling the rumors.
“Nokia must compete on ecosystem to ecosystem basis. In addition to great device experiences we must build, catalyse or join a competitive ecosystem. And the ecosystem approach we select must be comprehensive and cover a wide range of utilities and services that customers expect today and anticipate in the future” Stephen Elop, CEO, Nokia
At face value, that could certainly be interpreted as a sign that Nokia might consider lending its much-appreciated hardware skills to producing a device running something other than Symbian or MeeGo. The CEO’s specific focus on the US market, meanwhile, could also lend weight to that. ”Whatever the strategy is we outline on February 11,” Elop continued, “we very clearly [must ensure] that it will give us the opportunity to reopen markets such as the U.S. and some others, where we have not recently been present.”
For a company that strives to be so self-contained, though, persisting with Symbian while readying MeeGo devices still looks the most likely route. Nokia’s “competitive ecosystem” could well refer to Intel’s low-power Atom platform, or a more general indication that it intends to compete in the smartphone chipset arms-race which currently dictates the US handset market. We’ve already seen suggestions that the company is working on a high-powered MeeGo tablet based on dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processors; that would give the company an admirable spec-sheet that could take on any rival.
Nokia has announced its Q4 and annual 2010 financial results, and devices shipments are down in comparison to a year ago. The Finnish company shipped 123.7m devices in Q4 2010, a rise of 12-percent compared to Q3 but a drop of 3-percent compared to the same period in 2009; still, net sales of devices & services were up 4-percent year-on-year and 18-percent sequentially. The delay in releasing a MeeGo range has also eaten into their estimated smartphone share, down to 31-percent in Q4 2010 compared to 38-percent in Q3 and 40-percent a year ago. Operating profit was down from €1.47bn in 2009 to €1.09bn in 2010.
Ironically, Nokia’s smartphone – which the company refers to as “converged devices” – sales were actually up in 2010, with volumes of 28.3m in Q4 (up to 36-percent compared to Q4 2009). Unfortunately gross margin – the amount Nokia makes on each device – fell over five points from last year, to 29.2-percent in Q4 across all devices. Nokia estimates the market as a whole grew 13-percent in 2010 compared to 2009, whereas its own overall share decreased two points to 32-percent in the same period.
New CEO Stephen Elop says that “Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it’s time for Nokia to change faster”; the company has long been criticized for the lengthy delays between announcing devices and actually shipping them, and the MeeGo launch hasn’t helped matters. There’s still no word on what exactly the company will be bringing to MWC 2011 next month.
Stephen Elop’s first quarterly results as Nokia CEO have just come out, and while the company’s still growing, others seem to be speeding ahead of it. Nokia’s reporting its converged mobile devices (smartphones, to you and us) reached volumes of 28.3 million during Q4 2010, which is a neat bump from 20.8 million at the same time last year and 26.5 million in the previous quarter. However, in the context of the broader smartphone marketplace, that figure now amounts to only a 31 percent share, according to Nokia’s own estimates, which is a major dip relative to its 40 percent slice in Q4 2009 and 38 percent in Q3 2010. Elop’s perspective on the matter is as follows:
“In Q4 we delivered solid performance across all three of our businesses, and generated outstanding cash flow. Additionally, growth trends in the mobile devices market continue to be encouraging. Yet, Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it’s time for Nokia to change faster.”
When your operating profit goes from €1.47b (€950m net) a year ago to €1.09b (€745m net) this year, the response should indeed be to change and to change fast. Nokia’s still not disclosing sales figures of the N8, but given that this was the first full reporting period where the company’s Symbian flagship has been on sale, it doesn’t seem to have had quite the impact Espoo will have hoped for. Wanna try again with the N9?
Update: Nokia’s investor relations call has borne a few more interesting tidbits from the new man in charge. Elop is quoted as saying Nokia must “build or join a competitive ecosystem,” with the latter verb in that sentence sure to renew discussions of why the Finnish company should / shouldn’t switch to an OS such as Android or Windows Phone 7. We still think that’ll be the very last resort over in Espoo, but Elop apparently believes Nokia has the brand recognition and operator relationships to make such a move if it wanted to. Which of course it doesn’t. Or does it? Let’s wait for Nokia’s Strategy and Financial Briefing in London on February 11th — Mr. Elop’s expected to be a lot more specific about his company’s roadmap going forward on that day.
We love us some corporate intrigue, and there’s some intrigue of the highest order coming out of Finland today: local rag Kauppalehti claims that Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila had wanted the outspoken Anssi Vanjoki to step up, but was instead forced to endorse Microsoft executive Stephen Elop as Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo’s successor to lead the embattled company by a team of American investors who demanded a CEO from the left side of the Atlantic. How “forced,” exactly? Ollila was allegedly in line to be ousted if he didn’t throw his weight behind Elop, which — as IntoMobile points out — is a bit odd considering that Ollila himself is leaving next year. All told, something seems fishy here; it’s possible that Ollila is simply trying to save face with Finns (and / or Vanjoki himself) as he prepares to leave Nokia… or it’s possible that hordes of vicious Americans with skin in the game collectively tightened the vice grips. Either way, Elop seems to be cleaning house in light of the Symbian move, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he can steer the ship back on course here in 2011.
Update: We’ve just received a statement from a Nokia spokesperson that basically calls the story a total fabrication:
“The story is totally unfounded speculation. There were three candidates for Nokia CEO position in the final selection and Stephen was chosen on merit without any external interference. We are very disappointed that this story was published just prior to the financial results.”
So there you have it — three candidates, Elop won, so says Nokia.
Stephen Elop’s selection as the new Nokia CEO in 2010 – and long-time smartphone chief Anssi Vanjoki’s departure from the company – may have been the result of a a power play by American investors, according to a new leak. Finnish paper Kauppalehti claims that Nokia board chaiman Jorma Ollila had intended to promote Vanjoki to the CEO role, but just weeks before was told by US investors that he had to pick a different candidate.
Update: Nokia comment after the cut
Ollila shortly after announced his intentions to step down from the board in 2012, giving no reason for the decision but, if this new information is correct, in a move that looks likely to be a protest against the investor pressure. Vanjoki has said that “the time has come to seek new opportunities” and is expected to leave Nokia at the end of this quarter.
Update: We’ve just spoken to Nokia’s Mark Squires, and the company completely denies the Finnish report:
“The story is totally unfounded speculation. There were three candidates for Nokia CEO position in the final selection and Stephen was chosen on merit without any external interference. We are very disappointed that this story was published just prior to the financial results”
