Nokia’s North American Struggles

Over the past two days at Nokia’s The Way We Live Now conference, there’s been a lot of talk about the focus on services, particularly in new emerging markets. And there’s been some positive chatter about the new N900, which is touted as a promising contender to take on the iPhone.

One topic that has been avoided is Nokia’s struggles in North America. In the third-quarter, Nokia’s sales dropped 31% from a year ago, which is not terribly surprising given the company’s low profile, particularly in the fast-growing smartphone market.

Nokia’s biggest problem has been the fact it simply hasn’t had compelling devices at a time when there’s a lot of excitement about the iPhone, Blackberry Storm/Bold, the Palm Pre and Google’s Android devices. As a result, it has been hard for Nokia to get North American carriers excited about offering and promoting its products.

While Nokia may be reluctant to talk about its North American struggles, they do concede it has been a difficult market. In an interview today, Nokia’s Patrick Mercanton said that North American carriers have realized over time “they can live without us, so it’s taking time to get back in there”.

At the same time, he said North American carriers have also kept Nokia in a “low-end ghetto”, which has damaged how the Nokia brand is perceived by consumers.

Maybe the N900 will get Nokia back in the North American game, although it’s probably going to take more than one device and a lot more time for a turnaround to happen.

For more on what the N900 could mean for Nokia, check out GigaOm.