Wonder Kid

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It was a significant year for Nokia. The company repositioned itself from being just a handset manufacturer to a service provider with the launch of Ovi. The company recorded growth of 10.4% with the revenue showing up from Rs 15,000 in FY 2007-08 to Rs 16,566.9 crore in FY 2008-09. Ovi Store, a one stop digital window, is likely to go live in India in June this year. The company has launched a unique initiative by inviting Indian developers to create a pool of 100 applications for the N97, to be made available through the Ovi Store.

The company launched around forty models last year. Amongst the most significant will be the N97, which will also be the first device from Nokia to feature the Ovi Store. Significant launches in the year gone by were that of the highly successful E71, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and Nokia's first touch music phone, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic.

Though Nokia's supremacy remains unattacked, Samsung is slowly eating away its market share. Nokia increased its total distribution network by 40% last year. The company is investing in building a retail network which consists of some extremely modern high-end concept stores and retail points. Nokia concept stores and Nokia priority dealers are exclusive branded retail channels that are aimed at driving the solutions selling experience. Nokia solutions partners are multi-brand outlets and apart from that, the company is also present in shop-in-shops and other multi-brand outlets that retail both devices and some solutions. Nokia concept stores offer interactive and informative retailing experience. The company has nine such stores and is present in 1,90,000 retail outlets in the country.

This thrust on distribution strategy is in keeping with the company's focus on the rural segment. A significant development in this regard was the launch of Nokia Life Tools in December last year aimed at offering services in agriculture, learning English, general knowledge and astrology. The company would be going for its commercial rollout in a few months.

Though there are no official figures, cheap Chinese handsets have made a dent in the sales of all branded handset manufacturers, and Nokia is no exception. This is especially true for the hinterland. Nokia, along with other handset manufacturers, would have lost some market share in the last year as a result of cheap Chinese handsets present in the market. Apart from that, there is a marked increase in the number of small handset brands which would have also had some impact on the company's sales.

1
Nokia

While there was no major structural change in the organization, the company hired a chief development officer to optimize Nokia's strategic capabilities and growth potential, and also to provide operational support for integration across all units.

VP and MD, Nokia India
D Shivakumar

Address: Nokia India, 5F Tower-A&B, Cybergreen, DLF Cyber City, Sector-25A Gurgaon-122002, Haryana
TEL: +91-124-4199000
Fax: +91-124-4199104
Website: www.nokia.com

Highlights

Focus on the new services brand, Ovi
Significant investment in enhancing distribution network
Tied up with operators for Nokia Van initiative
Maps and navigation services are available in 149 cities; to expand it to more cities across India

Last year, the company made 'going green' a priority with the launch of its 'take back' initiative which generated over three tonnes of e-waste collected within the campaign pilot of forty-five days.

In the enterprise space, the company is planning to launch a range of stylish and feature-rich E-series devices. In the second half of the year, Nokia will launch Nokia E55, which the company claims is the world's most compact messaging device.

Our focus today is on solutions selling

You are trying to move from being a handset manufacturer to a solution provider.
I think we have not only strengthened our product portfolio but have also been able to take steps to drive mobility to the next billion. With the cell phone emerging as the Internet gateway, Nokia is transforming itself from being a pure play handset manufacturer to a solutions and services provider. As we continue to strengthen our focus on services, we have over the last year built on our navigation services introduced in 2007, by extending the services to more devices as well as cities. Today, our maps and navigation services are available in 149 cities and the plan is to expand it to more cities across India. Nokia N-gage, our gaming platform, went live in December this year. We are also gearing up to launch the Nokia Music Store with local content soon.

India is one of the few markets which is still growing in the handset segment. What is going to be your growth strategy?
We look forward to growing in the market and further strengthening our position by extending the benefits of mobility to all segments of consumers by providing affordable, feature-rich devices and innovative and localized services to meet the mobile communication needs of consumers in the rural market, and by transforming 'the' Internet into 'your' Internet for consumers by putting it in the palms of their hands.

Major challenges you are facing in the Indian market?
The challenge really is to service the aspirations and demands made by a diverse market that has two extreme ends of consumer demographics. You have over a billion people who are just getting into the folds of mobility, whose aspirations from mobility are completely different from those who are more evolved in their consumption. The task really is being able to service all these diverse needs and only a full breadth player will be able to do that.

How do you see the handset market evolving in the coming year?
We expect 2009 to be a 'defining' year for the Indian telecom industry. While the industry will add between 90-100 mn new subscribers in 2009 as per various analysts, we see three major developments significantly impacting the evolution of the industry. These are-entry of new operators, including CDMA operators, getting into GSM, the ushering in of 3G, and number portability.

Any plans to change your distribution strategy?
Our focus today is on solution selling, Nokia's mantra of differentiation at retail is its philosophy of solution selling, where the device is a not an end in itself but a means to a solution. We believe in providing our consumers an interactive and informative retailing experience, and therefore the Nokia Concept Stores have been set up across India. Currently, we have nine such concept stores in the country. We are also present in 1,90,000 retail outlets across the country.