Nokias Free Maps
It’s not hard to see precisely why Nokia is annoyed. Smartphones right now account for 15% of global cell phone movements. This share will be expected to grow to 45% by 2013. But Nokia’s cut of this quality marketplace fell from 44 to 35% relating to the 2nd and 3rd quarters of last year, reported by research company Canalys.
The actual goal would be to improve gross sales of the company’s top-end units through leveraging the high-priced 2008 acquisition of electronic digital mapping company Navteq. The actual move is risky; nevertheless it does have within it a hint of desperation. Nokia would like to prevent rivals including Google and The apple company from taking even more of their market share.
The brand new Nokia navigation system trumps every single competitor’s current offer. It is actually free of charge; it addresses seventy four nations around the world and installs the map information directly on the mobile. In comparison, consumers of Apple’s iPhone must pay close to $70 to download an equivalent program via the Dutch navigation system Tom Tom. Google’s system costs nothing, yet is purely available to the comparatively few consumers of their Android os and then exclusively within The united states. It also demands an active cell connection.
Nokia is having to pay an expensive price for this technologically advanced package. As yet, the technique is to bill cell phone users pertaining to the navigation services. To promote Navteq’s electronic maps to auto makers and also rival producers regarding routing devices. Any mapping revenues were encouraged, after Nokia paid more than eight billion dollars acquiring Navteq, a massive forty times income back then.
The offer regarding free of charge navigation will undoubtedly eat straight into Navteq’s profits. True, those had been only two per cent of Nokia’s total revenue in the 3rd quarter. However Nokia may struggle to keep in front of rivals within the map-reading wars. Google may well expand the availability of its very own map offering within the year and then free of charge navigation may speedily become an industry standard. Maps on their own won’t be adequate to elevate Nokia to the market placement they desire to be in, nevertheless this is a good step in the proper direction.