A little old, but I love this interview with mighty Nokiia's CFO.
While Nokia is a bully, or a mover-and-shaker to many, it's just another not-so-savvy supplier in America.
I've edited-out some wording to highlight NOK's mistakes in the U. S. market, and added some smart-a$$ remarks in parentheses:
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Investor's Business Daily
Corporate America A Key Nokia Target
Wednesday March 16, 7:00 pm ET
Reinhardt Krause
The No. 1 maker of mobile phones reaps only 12% of its revenue from the U.S., mostly sales to consumers.
Richard Simonson, Nokia's chief financial officer, recently spoke with IBD about Nokia's U.S. goals.
IBD: "When will more Nokia products debut first in the U.S. rather than in other countries?"
Simonson: "We don't have the same market voice in the U.S. that we have in Europe, Asia and Latin America." (Yeah. That's our point dude, in case you haven't noticed).
(Mistake #1). "We're taking steps to address that.
The U.S. didn't fit easily into that model, because it had multiple standards (GSM and CDMA). In 2005, Nokia plans to roll out some 40 phones and devices geared to U.S. consumers.
and, frankly, the U.S. has been quite a bit behind in mobility."
(Mistake #2). "We're trying to work closer with Verizon and Sprint (CDMA carriers), as well as Cingular and T-Mobile (GSM carriers)." (So, you're saying you thought the name "Nokia" would be enough to get them knocking on your door, and they gave you the finger!).
IBD: "Will those products involve corporate and other enterprise customers?"
Simonson: "The enterprise solutions group is very
U.S.-centric. Our enterprise solutions group is looking at U.S. companies. They're often ahead in mobility." (Gee. We thought you just said the U.S. was quite a bit behind in mobility).
IBD: "While Nokia is a big supplier of GSM phones, how's it doing in CDMA vs. five years ago?"
(Mistake #3). Simonson: "We really upped our investment in CDMA products and research and development. That started us on a path of going from 4% market share, to 8%, to around 12%-15%. (No hunching, amigo. Our figures show 12%, not 15%).
That was the result of us saying we've just got to get more serious about it (CDMA) and put resources there. But it's a clear fact we're underrepresented in mid- and high-end products. We're not on the cutting edge on CDMA. We need to address that. We'll be pragmatic about how we do it."
IBD: "Some analysts say the branding power of phone suppliers is fading. A few carriers are rolling out phones under their own label."
(Mistake #4). Simonson: "We have embraced co-branding and customization. That's a big change for Nokia. Our dialogue with some of them (Verizon and Sprint) has improved. We had a bit of butting heads with some operators a year ago. We weren't embracing co-branding." (A little tougher than bullying small patent companies, eh bucko!).
IBD: "About half of Nokia's new U.S. models are clamshell types. But Nokia was late realizing that many consumers prefer clamshell models. How could that happen to a market-savvy firm like Nokia?"
(Mistake #5). Simonson: "We just missed it. The signs were there. But we weren't acting on it. We were ignoring it for some reason or were in denial for some reason. (Will the real reason please stand up!).
We went through that internally, with no punches pulled. We diagnosed why we let it happen. The great thing about Nokia is we're a pragmatic learning organization." (Whoops. There's that word "pragmatic" again. How did you get this far without it?).
AI
