He discusses some
of the current trends and Nokia's strategy to address the mobile phone
platform market
How are you placed in the software
platforms market? What is Nokia's strategy to address this market?
Nokia is going to ship 100 mn units in 2006 and will cross 250 mn units by 2008.
Nokia cumulatively has shipped more than 70 mn mobile phones based on S60
platform and we are a leader in that space. In fact, we were the first to
embrace the platform. We should consider that smart phone is just about 10% of
the overall mobile phone market. We have introduced the third edition of S60. It
is true that there are a high number of low-end devices, there is also a great
demand for high-end devices. We are constantly trying to make sure that we are
doing the right things for the stakeholders.
Which mobile phone companies you are
working with for S60 platform and what benefit it brings to these companies?
S60 is not only the platform for Nokia but for also Samsung, LG, and
Lenovo. We have the right capabilities and right platform so that our licensees
create a differentiator and different form factors for their devices. We are
positioned in such a way that big vendors can innovate and create their brand
equity.
The platform allows licensees to reach a lower price points. The
key stakeholder from our point of view is the licensee. We need to make sure
that we have the right capabilities and platform for them. It is also important
for licensees to have a choice of hardware or the chipset for the software
platforms.
We are working intensively with the companies such as TI, ST
Microelectronics and Freescale to create the reference platforms so that it is
easier for our licensees to bring out devices.
What kind of relationship you have with
telecom service providers? Who are the Indian service providers working with you
for this and what benefit do they get?
We clearly see that the service providers today are in very powerful
position to determine what software platforms are being used. We are
collaborating closely with the leading operators such as Vodafone and Orange. We
have dedicated people working with the operators to get inputs for our
platforms. The lead time for platform development is long and not different from
the development of a device. We engage with them very early and they might be
influencing something which is coming to the market.
We also have means to decouple the cycle times in such a way
that if the service provider comes with a service idea, that can sit on the top
of the platform without breaking the platforms. We have lots of initiatives with
Vodafone to develop applications which are part of Vodafone Live. Orange is also
looking at us for integrating their Signature application to the devices.
We are in talks with all Indian operators about their
requirements. We want to make sure that the platform roadmap made by us aligned
with the service providers. We have direct discussions with the operators but we
also work through our licensees.
What are your views about using Linux for
mobile platform?
We are also using Linux in a limited way in simple devices but not
with the device with mobile connectivity. Linux kernel is a small part of the
mobile platform as a whole than someone needs to do the work on the top of the
Linux kernel. There are several ongoing initiatives. The crucial question is
whether some of those things are delivering what people think it is doing.
Sudesh Prasad
sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in
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