Is Business a core segment to Nokia?

Implications: With ever more of the business done by Nokia in the Emerging Markets just how important is a handset with such a rich feature set? The Blackberry like E71 whilst attractive suffers from a limited number of Enterprise Applications. How does these handsets fit into the OVI service?

Analysis: More and More Nokia is becoming the handset for the Emerging Markets.  Its dispute with Qualcomm means that Nokia's presence in the US is very small.  In Europe the Competition for the Consumer is extremely tight and the Mobile Networks are not looking to over pay for handsets that they will be giving away for free.  Thus the success recently with Nokia has been in India and Africa where they are able to sell feature phones to the consumer with acceptable margins.  These new handsets are likely to cost users over 3 months salary to by.  Whilst those who have been to Bombay do see someone on a bike using a N95 it is not commonplace.

The E Serries in general have some excellent features but it is still predominately a Symbian based device which has limited functions for the Enterprise User.  Thus you are looking at a Business Manager asking is this device lower cost than a Blackberry and will it give access to my SAP system.  BT Global Services are providing a number of leading corporates access to a wide range of scheduling tools but they are not doing ity with Nokia handset. 

I would question if the technology addresses the market?  What is needed is a handset that is a workhorse capable of working as a replacement for a Windows CE device in the hands of a bluecollar working.  These two handsets look fine in the hands of an office worker but my Plumber would distroy it within a month.

Nokia are focusing more and more attention to the Consumer sector and the potential for media content on a handset.  Does it neccesarily want to support another set of APIs for what is a business device?  If I were still a Road Warrior then I would wish to have a handset that allows optimum sharing of media.  A business handset by its very nature needs to be a closed system rather than an open one. So as a Consumer I would feel letdown by the fact that I have a Nokia handset but it does not give me access to the VIP lounge that is OVI.

Whilst Nokia has been a success for more years than may predicted, has it finally got to a size that means that the communication lines are too long?  Does it need to focus on the high volume markets that it are core to its cash generation and become just a Comsumer manufacturer of handsets?  The specialisms needed to service the Business market a very different to those of Nokia.  They require that they work with stakeholders in the Enterprise Space and provide products at a pricepoint rather than feature rich.