Nokia World saw the release of three new Symbian-powered smartphones. In a move to compete with Apple and Android-powered devices, Nokia has added new Ovi services and apps. Analysts said it’s not quite enough to compete with the smartphone leaders, but Nokia is nonetheless making progress in its reinvention.
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The Finnish company, which is experiencing a major shake-up in its corporate ranks, pressed forward to release the Nokia E7, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6 on Tuesday. The phones, along with the recently introduced N8, use the latest version of the Symbian platform and the latest beta release of Ovi Maps.
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Today our fight back to smartphone leadership shifts into high gear, said Niklas Savander, executive vice president of markets at Nokia. Despite new competition, Symbian remains the most widely used smartphone platform in the world.
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Nokia’s Secret Weapon
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Indeed, Symbian may still be the market leader, but Nokia isn’t the smartphone leader. The Symbian operating system is found on everything from candy-bar phones to clamshell phones to true smartphones.
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If you look at Nokia in the smartphone world, they are in fourth place, said Michael Disabato, managing vice president of network and telecom at Gartner. Nokia is ahead of Windows Mobile in that respect, but not by much. Nokia has a lot it could do. They have a very loyal following outside the United States that likes Symbian.
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One thing Nokia will have to do if it wants to compete is battle the surge from the iPhone and Android, specifically their app stores. Disabato said Apple has created a safe sandbox for users to play in, and Google is going to have to adopt stricter guidelines for Android. Meanwhile Symbian, in its native form, has built-in checks, and Disabato said Nokia needs to wave that flag.
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Nokia’s New Family
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For now, Nokia is waving the new smartphone…