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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Two reasons Microsoft will buy Nokia

James Rosewell writes:

Microsoft have been talking about Mango, the upcoming upgrade to Windows Phone 7 incorporating their battery-friendly flavour of multi-tasking and 499 other new features. They’ve also welcomed Fujitsu, Acer and ZTE to the Windows Phone fold. However there was no significant news from Nokia and Microsoft. No timeframe for handsets, nothing in fact. Both companies are being tight lipped about the partnership at the moment.

So what could the future have in store for these two companies?  Microsoft have apparently already paid Nokia $1 billion to persuade them to use Windows Phone 7 instead of Symbian. Presumably Google didn’t put as much on the table for Android. The fruits of this investment are unlikely to appear until 2012 when we’ll see many new Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets, Windows 8 and quite probably a hybrid version for tablets and touch screens all sporting the Nokia logo.

But this arrangement seems only half thought through. What about Microsoft Xbox and Nokia’s massive dominance in developing countries, particularly India?

Nokia is the number one brand of all brands in India. For many people, their first experience of a telephone and the internet was associated with Nokia. One billion people live in India and there is an emerging middle class with disposable income used to using Microsoft Windows. A lax approach to copyright law has certainly helped Microsoft establish mindshare.

Sony, with the Xperia Play, has shown a mobile smartphone for gaming can be built and is perfectly usable. It makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to release an Xbox mobile phone targeting developing countries. Who better to do it with than Nokia?  The back catalogue of games will drive profit if they’re not overpriced. They’ll almost certainly have an Xbox mobile phone for the US and European markets out this year anyway.

Nokia have failed to gain market share in North America. Microsoft were born there and have big brand presence. Focusing on Windows Phone branding with Nokia second could be a very smart way to increase market share. Maybe even lose the Nokia brand altogether.

How much could such a deal cost?  Let’s say Microsoft pay a premium for Nokia and a figure of $35bn is needed. We already know Microsoft have this sort of money because they tabled this much for Yahoo! a year or so back. Given Apple’s success with a combined hardware and software offering, there’s even a precedent to persuade investors. Not buying Yahoo! could be the best thing that Microsoft ever did.

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Opinion Articles

The art of accessory sales is changing

Mark Bridge writes:

We're told it's not merely 'sales'. No, it's an art. "The art of selling". And with over 4 million hits on Google, you could easily argue that the art of selling is more popular than painting.

The same goes for the two sub-categories of cross-selling and up-selling. They're arts as well, you know. Mystic and creative disciplines...

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Secure mobile phone calls explained

The security of 3G and GSM mobile phone calls has been questioned recently. Mark Bridge spoke to Dr Simon Bransfield-Garth, Chief Executive of Cellcrypt, at Mobile World Congress to find out how real the problems are. The interview was included in our podcast on 19th February 2010; here's an edited transcript of the interview:

Author: The Fonecast
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‘The App is Dead. Long Live the App’ at Mobile World Congress

James Rosewell writes:

Apps (defined as games, information services, social networking video and web content among other things) dominated MWC10 with debate focused on the provision of radio network capacity to support them, the technologies used to create them and the methods for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to monetise them. Given the fragmentation in technology and the investment needed from MNOs to provide capacity coupled with a lack of reward for MNOs, we would be forgiven for thinking the App as we know it is not long for this world. However new technologies offering broader platform support, plus smart network investment coupled with new business models, mean the App will evolve and come of age ready for 2011.

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Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress

Mark Bridge writes:

We queued in the rain outside the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza hotel. We sat on the floor in a basement room. And we watched on TV as Steve Ballmer announced Windows Phone 7 Series.

The life of a reporter is not a glamorous one.

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HTC Smart could start a smartphone price war

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve previously talked about a report from 2009 which warned how touch-screen phones that weren’t true smartphones were pushing down ARPU. Consumers thought they were buying something that was relatively advanced but were being seduced by form over function.

This week HTC stepped in to the arena with the HTC Smart, described by HTC's Peter Chou as "a more-affordable smartphone". Although it may not fit everyone’s definition of a smartphone, it certainly ticks most of the boxes. It has an open operating system, Qualcomm’s Brew platform, which has over 18,000 available applications and has been installed on over 1200 handset models worldwide.

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Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

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Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

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Podcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

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In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

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