05/05/2008, 8:55am, EDT
Monday, May 5thNokia seeks US share with more phones
Nokia intends to recapture some of its influence in the US market this year with a slew of new phones, the company's primary designer Alastair Curtis said in an interview published today with Finland's Helsingin Sanomat. The creator promises many new models within the "next few months" that are tailored to the needs of US carriers, ending a relative drought of devices in recent years.
This will include CDMA-based phones for providers that rarely see Nokia devices, Curtis adds, as well as US-only phones and adaptations of international models for US calling frequencies and bands. Nokia began the process in the past two years with special North America Model editions of its popular N95 smartphone that support 3G Internet access from providers such as AT&T and Rogers instead of the Europe-only support of the originals. However, until the release of the N95 8GB for Rogers, these devices have only been sold as unlocked.
The effort is considered essential to improving Nokia's overall marketshare. Nokia currently holds 39 percent of the world market but fares poorly in the US, where larger companies such as Sprint and Verizon are incompatible with Nokia's preferred GSM format. Nokia holds just 10 percent of US business has also rarely offered its higher-end phones through carriers in the US, opting instead for budget devices or older handsets.
Filed under: industry, gadgets
Other story tags: AT&T, Nokia, Verizon, sprint, Rogers, N95
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Apple is the only company that has its head screwed on straight with offering a LIMITED number of HIGH QUALITY models across ALL of its product lines. This is good for consumers because there's no confusion, and this is good for Apple because they can concentrate on making their few models the best that they can be.
I am convinced more and more on a daily basis that most technology companies simply don't know what the hell they're doing.
But leave it to a fan-boy to argue that choice is a bad thing. You know, some people need a high-end PDA-like phone (like the iPhone). Some need low-end crap. Some want a keyboard, some don't. Some want to be able to use a stylus and write/take notes that way. Hell, some people might even want a phone to make calls or something.
I guess you like it when home builders have just 3 models to choose from, with limited add-ons. Or when a car company decides to offer just a couple of models.
BTW, Apple doesn't have a limited number of phones, it has one phone. And having a "limited" number doesn't seem to have given them the ability to fix such obvious missing features like copy/paste or search.