When it comes to networks, says Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, less is more. It’s a left-field approach that involves using fewer networks to create a sense of exclusivity around the company’s flagship devices.
Speaking to CNET, Elop said: ‘One of the things we had learned with the first launch was being very narrow would yield better results for us,’ Elop said.
He added: ‘we take a product and go exclusive with a particular carrier. In a market where subsidy and marketing dollars are heavy, we encourage them to promote it as a hero product, and use the subsidy to drive down the pricing to a competitive point. It also gives you access to in-store resources.’
It’s a tactic that worked well for Apple when it first released the iPhone way back in the mid-2000s. So the reasoning behind Nokia’s approach is sound.
What’s really important, however, is uptake by consumers en masse of Windows Phone. This has yet to happen for the platform despite concerted efforts from Nokia, Samsung, HTC, LG, and ZTE.
The Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 820 are excellent devices, providing you don’t mind the Windows Phone adjustment, and has even sold out in some regions.
Windows Phone currently accounts for just two per cent of the smartphone space, as of Q3 2012. Adoption of Windows Phone 8 has been better than expected in some regions, but the platform still has a long way to go before it’ll be giving Android or iOS any trouble.
Will Elop’s Apple-approach to propagating its Windows Phone flagship devices pay off in the long run? It’s difficult to say at present but we’ll know a lot more once we get the company’s Q1 2013 results through.
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