“Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest mobile-phone maker, is selling entry-level devices costing less than $50 and… Sweden’s TeliaSonera AB sells Apple Inc.’s iPhone 3G for 1 krona (12 U.S. cents) with a two-year contract,” Erkheikki reports.
“‘This year will reshape the industry quite a bit,’ said Mikko Ervasti, an analyst at Evli Bank in Helsinki,” Erkheikki reports. “The polarization of the market may squeeze those in the middle. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., Motorola Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. have struggled to come up with hit phones or stumbled in their attempts to widen their product offerings.”
“‘In this economic environment, we expect some, not all, consumers to trade down to less expensive devices,’ Nokia Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said on a call last month. ‘We are best positioned to take this tradedown opportunity,’” Erkheikki reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Who wants customers who have so little money that they have to “trade down” their mobile phones? Nokia, it seems. And what happens to Nokia’s positioning when the recovery takes hold?
Erkheikki continues, “Growth in sales of so-called smartphones with computer-like capabilities will be fueled by the addition of features such as Web browsing, e-mail and video to cheaper models.”
“Apple, whose iPhone is the industry’s most-hyped handset in the past few years, moved to third place in the smartphone segment last year,” Erkheikki reports. “The advance of Cupertino, California-based Apple is set to continue as most new touch-screen products to be announced in 2009 by competitors are likely to disappoint given the high standard set by the iPhone, according to CCS Insight.”
“Nokia has trailed Apple in touch screen devices and started selling its first model in the fourth quarter, more than a year after the first iPhone went on sale,” Erkheikki reports.
Much more in the full article here.
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