How Nokia plans to beat competition

Last week, Nokia launched a new model of Lumia at Rs 10,500 to extend the range it had introduced about 16 months back to tap the premium segment of the smartphone market.

So far, Nokia has launched more than 10 Lumia devices priced between Rs 10,500 and Rs 38,000 (approximately).

Lumia was meant to address the young consumers who were shifting to touch devices and newer operating systems.

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Initially, Nokia positioned Lumia on the high value segment, and slowly extended the range to the other segments of the smartphone market.

According to Vipul Mehrotra, director (smart devices), Nokia India, "We are working closely with Microsoft to offer Nokia Lumia devices at newer price points, thereby offering the Windows Phone and Lumia experience to newer consumers."

About a decade ago, mobile handsets in India were almost synonymous to Nokia. The joyride lasted more than a decade. Nokia was preferred for its sturdy engineering coupled with its early-mover advantage.

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Towards the end of the last decade, the smartphone market was swept away by Samsung, especially the high-value segment.

Nokia's overall market share in India fell from about 54 per cent in 2009 to about 22 per cent in 2012 (according to CyberMedia Research). So, Nokia had to fight back with a different strategy.

Raising its appeal

Since it launched Lumia, it has been trying to invigorate the brand to tap into the next generation of smartphone purchasers - the young crowd. Besides getting Priyanka Chopra to endorse Lumia, it has launched a digital marketing campaign that communicates directly with the youth.

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"Nokia's renewed focus on the youth is finding a deep resonance with the target audience. With our 'bold, fun and youthful' brand marketing drive, we have struck a chord with the youth. We have highlighted the true potential of our devices and solutions through innovative youth-centric marketing campaigns and have embraced the challenger ethos by bringing products to market in ways we probably wouldn't have previously," says Mehrotra.

So, has the new marketing strategy paid off?

According to a recent research report by an independent agency, the Finnish handset maker has been able to increase its share in the smartphone market in India by a few percentage points, but it is yet to get close to its Korean rival.

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According to the study, Nokia's market share by volume increased from 24.4 per cent in July 2012 to 31.1 per cent in December 2012 in the smartphone segment in urban India (cities with a population of more than 50,000).

Building a portfolio

While Samsung is betting big on the Galaxy range of smartphones to sweep the high-value market, Nokia is planning to launch more Lumia devices at newer price points - both lower and higher.

The new Lumia range is all about "letting people have a choice about the level of innovation and the type of experience they want at different price points," says Mehrotra.

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There are more reasons why Nokia should bring more Lumia devices at lower price points, essentially much below Rs 10,000 so that it creates an edge over its competitors in the lower end of the smartphone market in India.

About 40 per cent of the smartphones sold in urban India (cities with a population of more than 50,000) in December 2012, were priced below Rs 7,000.

The share of smartphones in the range of  Rs 8,000 and Rs 12,000 was 24.5 per cent and for phones prices above Rs 20,000 was just 10.7 per cent, according to the study cited above.

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"We are the challenger right now and it is very much one step at a time for us. We want to win over consumers with smartphones that are better than anything else that's out there. We'll compete at every price point with better mobile experiences," says Mehrotra.

However, at any price point, the basic experience of Windows-based phones does not change. "What is different is that lower-priced Windows handsets won't carry all apps and facilities of the high-priced ones," he adds.

Tough fight
Not only Samsung, even homegrown handset makers like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava have been giving Nokia competition by offering smartphones at very low price points. And, this can only be countered with competitive pricing.

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The domestic brands have reportedly gained market share (by volume) from 4.2 per cent in July 2012 to 12.1 per cent in December 2012.

As an analyst says, Nokia is used to selling feature-phones in volume.

"However, over the next three to five years, very few will be willing to pay the high prices for smartphones that we see today. Cheap smartphones will be so fast, so responsive, and so cheap to make that nearly everyone in the world will eventually have one, and they will all be almost the same."

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This is where Nokia's Lumia comes in. On the one hand, it is selling high-end Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, on the other it is selling Lumia 710 and Lumia 610 for the budget conscious.

While the higher-end phones will continue to rake in profits for Nokia, the volumes will come from the low-priced ones.

For Nokia, the game is simple, and that's what the company is doing as a long-term player - volume at the low-end where it competes with the domestic players, and mindshare at the high-priced segment where it fights with Apple's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy series and Sony's Xperia.

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Curtains for Symbian

Nokia has already announced that it will not bring any more devices that run on Symbian operating system; most of its future devices will be based on Windows.

Between July and December 2012, the share of Symbian-run mobile handsets came down to 2.8 per cent in volume from 14.7 per cent in the smartphone segment in urban India (cities with more than 50,000 population), according to the survey cited above.

While Android phones still dominate with 61 per cent of the volume, they have reported very slow growth since July 2012 when they were 60.6 per cent of the market. On the other hand, the share of Windows-run devices is increasing at a better rate, from 3.7 per cent in July 2012 to 5.1 per cent in December 2012, the study reveals.

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According to research firm Strategy Analytics, the Nokia Lumia smartphone family with Windows operating system had out-shipped Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Android family in the first three quarters after their commercial launches.

Besides pushing Lumia through the retail channel, Nokia has also been pushing these devices in partnerships with the leading mobile service providers.

"Additionally, for each new device launched, we have partnered with leading operators in the country to create robust data plans that help the consumer experience the full power of their device," says Mehrotra.

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Nokia Lumia 800

Nokia also adds some special features with Lumia for its mapping solution here. "We have put in place strong partnerships across vertical industries for all our services along with unparalleled distribution reach for developers through the Nokia Store and Windows Phone Marketplace," Mehrotra says.

There are about 80 million downloads from Nokia Store each month, while the company has engaged about 5,000 Indian app developers for Windows Marketplace. However, Nokia is still in recovery mode.

"Nokia is in the middle of a transition program which encompasses every aspect of our business. We are executing as per our strategy and we have started to see positive momentum in the market," says Mehrotra.