Struggling Nokia eyes up Chinese smartphone market

Mobile phone giant Nokia has looked to a launch in China and a cameraphone "revolution" to aid it stage a comeback inside the fiercely competitive smartphone market after a depressing 2011.

At the opening day of Mobile World Congress, with tens of thousands of industry executives gathered, the Finnish firm said it's going to push its flagship Lumia smartphone series, that run at the Windows platform, to the Asian giant.

Announcing that Windows phones have now been made compatible with Chinese mobile operating networks, Jo Harlow, who heads the group's smart devices division, said: "That suggests Nokia will bring Lumia to China."
Beyond eyeing the big Chinese consumer market, the gang also unveiled a brand new phone called 808 Pure View, which boasts a 41 megapixel sensor technology described by Harlow as a "revolution in smartphone imaging."

The telephone, featuring Carl Zeiss optics, allows the user to capture a picture before zooming in and cropping or resizing to expose previously unseen details.

Its 41 megapixels also are far above the 8 or 10 megapixels on the market today or even beats many stand-alone digital cameras.

While Nokia mobile handsets were once ubiquitous, the firm have been struggling to secure a foothold within the smartphone market, with Lumia to date failing to reverse falling sales in its overall smartphone business.

Within the fourth quarter, Nokia sold just 19.6 million smartphones -- 31 percent fewer than within the same quarter of 2010 and much behind market-leader Apple, which reported 37 million units sold, and runner-up Samsung, with 36.5 million smartphone sales.

The gang also posted a net lack of 1.2 billion euros in 2011, in comparison to a net profit of one.8 billion euros a year earlier.

Asked if the Barcelona offers would improve the group's results, Nokia chairman and chief executive Stephen Elop said: "The foremost thing is that we have got demonstrated the action essential to improve the fortunes of Nokia.

The crowd is "changing the tactic and executing (the shift) ... With great products and consumers alike, remainder will fall into place," he added.

However the market was not convinced, with Nokia shares plunging greater than 6.5 percent at one stage.

An analyst with Japanese investment bank Nomura said disappointment within the launch was likely what was dragging down the Finnish company.

"The corporate has built up expectations saying it can give significant industry news but we didn't really get any," Richard Windsor told Dow Jones Newswires.

"We were in quest of an affordable Windows phone at $200 on a brand new version of the software. We got a phone at $260 at the old software," he lamented.

But other analysts were more positive.

Francisco Jeronimo, IDC research manager, told AFP: "After Nokia's launch, yesterday's launches by HTC, Huawei and Sony all seem outdated."

Asian giants HTC and Huawei on Sunday launched ultrarapid smartphones boasting quad core processors that give them twice the processing speeds as those currently in the marketplace.

But Jeronimo said an excellent camera was a smarter selling point than speed.
"Nokia was right to not opt for a quad core. Why do you want quad core? It's like getting a Ferrari.

"Whilst you go right into a shop and also you see a phone with 41 megapixels, in comparison with another one that is fast but which only offers 8 megapixels, you're likely to select the only with more pixels," he said.

Similarly, the group's push into China also opens the doors to millions of customers, he said.

Though Chinese brands Huawei and ZTE are traditionally strong of their home market, "Nokia is a sturdy brand" and the cost of the Lumia 610 is a competitive 189 euros before subsidies and taxes.

"That makes it the least expensive Windows smartphone that can be purchased," Jeronimo said.

"Last year Nokia looked worrying. i believe this year things will begin to search for," said the analyst.

Some models of Nokia's Lumia range could be available in New Zealand from next month.

- AFP