Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK)'s new Windows Phone 8 smartphones are "me too" devices that are unlikely to tempt users away from their iPhones and Android devices. (See Nokia Lights Up Windows Phone 8 Devices and Nokia's Lumia 920: Will It Support US LTE?)
That's the opinion of experienced telecom sector analyst Mike Genovese at MKM Partners , who described the launch of the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 devices as "disappointing" in a research note issued following the Finnish handset vendor's presentation.
He said that the devices lacked much in the way of differentiation from smartphones already available, and knocked Nokia for "a lack of specific details about launch timing, carrier partners and pricing."
He added: "We maintain our negative outlook on Windows Phone demand, as we see little happening to make high-end consumers want to own Windows Phone products … Today's tepid announcement will quickly be overshadowed by next week's highly anticipated iPhone 5 launch." (See Here Comes the 4G iPhone and Will the iPhone 5 Be a North American Roamer?)
Genovese expects Nokia to report grim results for the third quarter, as market data from component suppliers suggests that sales of the vendor's feature phones have been weak.
— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading
That's the opinion of experienced telecom sector analyst Mike Genovese at MKM Partners , who described the launch of the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 devices as "disappointing" in a research note issued following the Finnish handset vendor's presentation.
He said that the devices lacked much in the way of differentiation from smartphones already available, and knocked Nokia for "a lack of specific details about launch timing, carrier partners and pricing."
He added: "We maintain our negative outlook on Windows Phone demand, as we see little happening to make high-end consumers want to own Windows Phone products … Today's tepid announcement will quickly be overshadowed by next week's highly anticipated iPhone 5 launch." (See Here Comes the 4G iPhone and Will the iPhone 5 Be a North American Roamer?)
Genovese expects Nokia to report grim results for the third quarter, as market data from component suppliers suggests that sales of the vendor's feature phones have been weak.
— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading
joset01
12/5/2012 | 5:21:50 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Enterprises would be better for Microsoft.
Remember that Android doesn't have a licensing fee so vendors are always more likely to be able to razor-slice the margins on the low-end with the Google OS rather than the Msft WP8.
DCITDave
12/5/2012 | 5:21:50 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
And enterprises. RIM is entrenched but very vulnerable.
Gabriel Brown
12/5/2012 | 5:21:49 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Maybe that ship has sailed too? iPhone works with exchange. Apple got the basic security stuff sorted out early, so there's a huge number of BYOD users. I'd imagine its enterprise business is growing fast.
paolo.franzoi
12/5/2012 | 5:21:48 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
I think the thing I have seen is an increase in workers with Android and iOS apps for their work, replacing Blackberry. In particular, my sister is a nurse and they have been given an Android App for home care. Also, my doctor now has an iPad for his charts and such.
So, I think if Health Care (with HIPPA) can do it - then pretty much anybody else can if their IT departments won't stand in the way.
seven
DCITDave
12/5/2012 | 5:21:48 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
That is a good point. BYOD is huge and, really, if you win the consumer market there is some part of the enterprise market you will get by default.
I recall one of the great struggles inside of our company was getting some of us to a point where we had a company, personal, and office phone -- with all the security and bells and whistles needed -- in one device.
And we get by okay on an iPhone.
ph
shygye75
12/5/2012 | 5:21:47 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Hence this points back to a focus on the low end (in terms of price). It may not be something Microsoft wants to do, and it may not even be worth the effort, but right now it looks like the only way for Windows 8 to achieve any critical mass. Now, if Huawei were in charge of this ...
Gabriel Brown
12/5/2012 | 5:21:43 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Apple sells its older models into the lower-end of the market. This would mean Windows Phone will compete against, say, the iPhone 3GS launched in 2009 -- even in that case, though, does Nokia & Windows have the brand to compete?
I thought we'd have seen more from Huawei by now. It's made a few false starts -- it's attempts to re-skin of Android, for example, never really came off.
Gabriel Brown
12/5/2012 | 5:21:43 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
I wonder at what point, if ever, Apple having 50-odd percent of the smartphone market becomes a problem for the industry at large?
So far its mostly been positive (except for the older handset-makers: Nokia, Motorola, RIM, etc).
But maybe we're a getting to a point where carriers want to introduce, say, VoLTE or RCS, or some other new service, but there's no point until Apple gets around to supporting it?
Gabriel Brown
12/5/2012 | 5:21:42 PM
re: Analyst Labels Latest Lumia Launch as 'Tepid'
Brookseven -- across the floor at our office in London there's a group at UBM (the company that owns Light Reading) that developed an iOS app for Doctors in the UK that calculates medical stuff (e.g. dosages).
It's been a big success because the surgeries are equipped with mostly old equipment and systems. Doctors bring in their own iPhones and iPads and use the app instead.
"[W]e see little happening to make high-end consumers want to own Windows Phone products...."
Growth in the smartphone sector will be in the lower end of the consumer spectrum -- the high end is saturated. So there's still hope for Windows 8, and it rests in the Great Unwashed.