smartphone

Can RIM Avoid Becoming the Next Nortel?

By Mark Evans in Wireless, Wireless/Research in Motion 2 Comments Tags: , , , , ,

There was likely a collective sign of relief yesterday after Research in Motion unveiled better-than-expected second-quarter results, apparently due to strong sales of its new BlackBerry Torch.

After a slew of bad news that included troubles with governments in the Middle East and India over access to data, the launch of Apple’s iPhone4 and the stunning growth of Google’s Android wireless OS, there was the perception that RIM was on its heels after ruling the smartphone roost for so long.

While the second-quarter results will make everyone feel better about RIM’s prospects, it’s important not to get too carried away. It was one quarter in which expectations were battered down by the wave of negative news, including tepid reviews of the Torch. That said, the Torch seems to be a solid entry into the touch-screen market so while the critics may not be thrilled with it, it may have resonated with consumers, who still love the BlackBerry keyboard.

At the same time, one quarter does not a future make nor does it change the competitive landscape. The iPhone4 has continued to maintain Apple’s stature as the world’s most exciting smartphone maker. Meanwhile, companies such as LG and Samsung have been unveiling some stunning devices using Google Android. I recently used an LG phone that was so good, it made we question about an iPhone. And if Nokia ever gets its smartphone act together, it will make the competitive landscape even more intense.

While the Torch did a solid job of getting RIM’s smartphone mojo back, RIM still has a long way to go to make sure it remains in the first-tier smartphone makers. In some respects, it faces the same challenge Nortel faced trying to stay as a first-tier telecom equipment suppliers. While RIM’s financials are significantly better than Nortel’s, and it has strong leadership, RIM needs a lot more than the Torch to stay with Apple and Android (aka The Killer A’s).

The Torch moved RIM into the touchscreen market but BlackBerry still has its warts. For one, the BlackBerry App World store continues to be a nightmare for users and developers. This is a disaster at a time when consumers are personalizing their smartphones to match their professional and personal lifestyles. And while RIM’s Web browser is improving, it’s still not the fantastic experience that wireless users are coming to expect.

At the same time, RIM seems to be having a personality conflict between serving its core enterprise market and meeting the needs of younger, hipper consumers. The enterprise market pays the bills while the hipster market offers growth and cache. For example, RIM’s current advertising talks about a lot of its messaging features, which is an appeal to younger, instant messaging-crazy youngsters. Meanwhile, the BlackBerry continues to be a mediocre multi-media devices when it comes to music and video. This explains why PushLife, a music start-up, attract so much attention in a recent Financial Post article.

While it would be ill-advised to count RIM out, it’s too soon to jump back on the bandwagon. RIM still faces major challenges that will not go away any time soon. It means RIM needs to continue to bring it, otherwise it risks being the next Nokia in the smartphone market. And then there’s that nasty Nortel scenario of going from first to worst.

I Love the iPhone But….

By Mark Evans in Wireless No Comments Tags: , , , ,

Over the past couple of years, I have slowly, but surely, become part of the MacNation – armed with a MacBook, MacBook Pro and iPhone3.

And while the iPhone is terrific, I have come down with a bad case of smartphone envy after spending some time checking out the Legend HTC, which features Google’s Android operating system.

The Legend HTC impressed me with its functionality, features and, most important, its speed. All of of its applications opened and worked quickly, and the Web browser was impressively fast. This was a contrast to my iPhone3, which has become old and slow even though it’s less than two years old.

For anyone who might point to the strength of the iTunes store as a differentiator, the HTC Legend came with a variety of applications – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – that met most of my needs. It also came with a GMail app, which performed quickly – again, a contrast to the iPhone’s sluggish Mail application.

I was also impressed with the Legend’s keyboard, which performed well for a touch-screen, although the keys are fairly small. The device itself is sleek, well-designed and comfortable to use.

If I wasn’t an iPhone user or tied into a contract for another 18 months, I would seriously consider getting an HTC Legend or, for that matter, an Android-powered smartphone.

After using the HTC Legend, it is easy to see why Android has gained some much traction in the smartphone market. The bottom line is the smartphone market now has three strong players: Android, the iPhone and the Blackberry.

Nokia’s Smartphone Aspirations

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod, Wireless 1 Comment Tags: , , , ,

Om Malik had an interesting blog post yesterday about an interview he did with Tero Ojanperä, Nokia executive vice-president of services. What caught my eye was how Om set up the interview by making outlining his criticisms of Nokia, “including its denial of competition from Apple’s iPhone, its hardware, and a botched launch of its Ovi store”.

It’s an interesting taken given Nokia’s bullishness during a conference last month in Helsinki about its progress in markets around the world, and how it’s put more emphasis of data services to drive sales. What went missing over the day-and-a-half event was any discussion about North America, and how Nokia’s smartphone efforts are lagging behind Apple and Research in Motion.

It was also a little curious that Nokia quietly announced at the conference that its much-anticipated N900 smartphone had started shipping, and then quickly moved on without providing more details or, at least, showing the N900 to the 140 reporters, bloggers and analysts.

To get a better sense of Nokia’s smartphone efforts, I managed to get an interview with Ian Laing, VP, marketing with Nokia in North America. While conceding Nokia isn’t as strong as Apple or RIM in North America, Laing contends Nokia has huge smartphone potential as its two OSs – Symbian and Maemo – are deployed in a variety of market segments.

“The perspective I have is the rising tide raises all ships and we are one of those ships raising the tide as the education of the consumers continues to happen in North America,” he said, adding that Nokia is seeing encouraging growth in other markets around the world for its smartphones.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview.


Q: What’s your take on the smartphone market’s growth around the world?
I would say that globally we are continuing to see the growth of the smartphone category, and it is starting defy definition. It is starting to get broad. It used to be phones with open OSs, phones with QWERTY keyboards, phones with smart screens. As we look at penetration around the world, more people are into their third, fourth and fifth generation device, and as is naturally the case in consumer electronics, they are moving up the food chain. More consumers are buying more feature-rich devices.

Q: What about Nokia’s presence in the North American smart phone market where the iPhone and Blackberry dominate?
In North America, the strength we see here with Apple and RIM is not quite the same in other markets around the world. When we launched the 5800 in Hong Kong a year ago, it was huge. We saw the kinds of lines going into stores that we saw her in the U.S. with Apple customers going into the AT&T stores. The world is not the same as New York, Toronto or San Francisco. In North America, we are seeing a really strong growth in the smartphone category thanks to all the work done by people such as Apple who are spending money on advertising, and talking to he consumer. The work Apple has done with AT& has helped the entire industry talk to consumer what these devices can do.

Q: There’s a lot of excitement about Nokia’s newest smartphone, the N900? Is this a game-changer for Nokia?
Let’s put the N900 into historical perspective. For some time, Nokia has been working on Internet devices – devices that have as its main purpose, making Internet access as powerful, easy and user-friendly as access on its PC. In previous years, we introduced the Nokia Internet tablet, the 800. These devices at first, they didn’t even have cellular phone capability – they were Wi-Fi devices to surf the Internet in a PC like way. I give you that context that Maemo comes from the PC world, version of Linux, open source OS; is the kind of OS that we believe belongs in very high-end internet friendly devices. From a strategic standpoint, what is the Nokia plan; Symbian is our bread and butter OS. Symbian is coming down the price curve from very highest end devices, now firmly ensconced mid-tier. Maemo, we anticipate deploying at the very top of the device range – the geekiest of the geek, who want the absolutely ultimate in mobile telephone.

While we are not the household name in North America like Apple or RIM, but we can bring smartphones into the mid-tier. Symbian will play in those parts of that portfolio; the very top of the portfolio is where you will have Maemo. The N900 is not the be all and end all; it is a nice device with multiple screens. But frankly that is just the beginning. You will see more devices running on Maemo.

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