Nokia metamorphoses

Both these announcements, along with earlier inroads by Nokia into the world of online music, navigation, or app stores, with its OVI Store (cf. Smart Insights #09-21), demonstrate the will of the company to make its positioning evolve from the undisputed handset leader to a more global positioning, participating in a global diversification trend in economy. Recently, Nokia even launched a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) in Japan (cf. SI #09-06). All these moves are totally consistent with Nokia announced strategy (cf. SI #08-20) to become a global technology company.

Some analysts view these announcements as the sign Nokia is loosing ground on its core business. To us it is indeed a very positive signal to our industry: the common point between all these evolutions is that they need security, thus they represent opportunities for our industry. If we consider the number of our SIM cards installed in Nokia handsets, or the fundamental IP Nokia owns on NFC technologies, the company is already a major partner of ours. Now, all new Nokia announcements require additional security features, be it a netbook, an app store, or even better, Nokia Money, which belongs to the core of our industry expertise.

Nokia change to a more global technology and services provider is neither a threat to us nor to our customers. It is an opportunity for our industry.

Thierry SpanjaardChief EditorSmart Insights.