Microsoft and Nokia have released a unified communications (UC) client for directly connecting Nokia handsets with enterprise IT systems running Microsoft Exchange. Called Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices, the offering unveiled Tuesday is the first app to emerge from the companies’ alliance around mobile productivity, which was announced last August.
Available for download from Nokia’s Ovi Store, the new software client is currently compatible with the Symbian-based Nokia E72 and Nokia E52 smartphones. However, the partners say they intend to expand the new app’s range to include other handsets moving forward, including the recently announced Nokia E5.
“This application really provides a much more efficient way to work with others, as you can see if someone is busy or available and the best way to start a conversation with them,” said Nokia Vice President Ukko Lappalainen. “It also meets all of the requirements for the enterprise: cost-effective to implement, secure, familiar and reliable.”
Looking To Regain Traction
Worldwide handset shipments grew 19 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2010, according to ABI Research. However, Nokia’s market-share remained flat at 34 percent — indicating that the company is not growing with the rest of the market, the firm’s analysts observed.
Nokia’s loss of traction in the smartphone sector negatively impacted the company’s quarter sales performance, industry observers say. In response, Nokia is moving to boost its smartphone opportunities by expanding the range of its smartphone offerings to include the mid-tier and low tier segments, where it believes it has strength, ABI analysts said.
This week’s announcement of the new Communicator Mobile app demonstrates that Nokia is eyeing the mobile enterprise market as other opportunity to expand its smartphone presence globally. But the challenge for Nokia is to move beyond the growth success it has enjoyed in emerging markets, noted IDC Research…