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