THE CUTTING ROOM

Paul Withers

Nokia is no stranger to criticism but following the launch of its Lumia 1020 handset in New York this month , the manufacturer deserves some long overdue credit .

For those who don ’ t know , the device ’ s main feature is a 41-megapixel camera ( see page 26 ). Yes , Nokia has tried this before – and with little success – with the 808 PureView around 18 months ago . The launch was a bit of an anticlimax and few if any retailers pushed it – if they even stocked at all . O2 , Vodafone , EE and Three all rejected it .

Righting wrongs This time around things appear different . O2 has got an exclusive variant . Phones 4U , Carphone Warehouse and Three have also got involved .

So why the change ? For starters , the original ran on Symbian , an operating system which arguably played a key role in the firm ’ s recent downfall in the smartphone arena .

The 1020 uses Windows Phone 8 , which is a vast improvement regardless of your feelings about the operating system .

Significantly , it brings something new to the market – something really useful which almost everyone with a phone today can appreciate .

Innovation Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop ’ s comments on page 2 , suggesting other manufacturers are too focused on rehashing older models , sounds like sour grapes and , when comparing sales figures , is unlikely to hurt anyone ’ s feelings at Samsung or HTC .

Apple ’ s latest results are a strange mix of very good and very bad news for the company . Early headlines suggested the Californian firm had an astounding third quarter , with iPhone sales in April , May and June up 20 per cent to 31.2 million compared to 26 million in the same period last year .

According to CFO Peter Oppenheimer , the manufacturer is “ very pleased ” with this result , which is the culmination of growth across developed and emerging markets , he said .

And perhaps it should be – but the fact that iPhone sales grew 51 per cent in the US , 66 per cent in Japan and around 50 per cent in the UK , shows it must be doing quite poorly elsewhere for this average to be dragged down so significantly .

Indeed , there are three signs that the Apple may be rotting and that the firm ’ s products may not have quite the appeal they once had .

But he does have a point . The popularity of Samsung ’ s Galaxy S range has gone through the roof and , like Apple , it continues to bring out very similar follow-ups – a boost in speed here and an increase in megapixels there .

HTC has done the same with the equally impressive HTC One by bringing out a marginally smaller ( both in size and spec ) model , the HTC One Mini .

Nokia is no stranger to this , of course – in fact , back in the early noughties , it was one of the worst offenders , bringing out numerous new models that were virtually identical to their predecessors ( 6230-6230i , N95-N95 8GB , N97-N97 Mini ).

But it appears the firm has made efforts not to fall into the same old trap again . Whether long term this has an adverse effect on its coffers we ’ ll have to wait and see , but it ’ s good to see . I ’ m sure Nokia ’ s rivals will be ready to pounce if a followup ‘ Mini ’ version of any of its devices emerges .

Excitement For now at least , the Lumia 1020 is an exciting addition and has some great embedded technology . There are six physical lenses , the most found

The first is the company ’ s significant smartphone decline in China , where Tim Cook admitted it had seen “ dramatic downturns ” in iPhone sales . He said sales in Hong Kong , a “ shopping haven ” for tourists as well as residents , fell by 20 per cent . Of more concern was that Cook said he didn ’ t know why this had happened , although he said China ’ s economic situation had been unhelpful .

Analysts asked Cook how he could turn Apple ’ s fortunes in China around . Plans appear

“ There are signs the Apple may be rotting and its products are losing their appeal ”

to be thin on the ground – basically double the number of retail stores and hope for the best – although Cook seemed to hint at something a bit more proactive . “ iPhone sales are lower in China than we want them to be ,” he said , adding the company will do something about this “ but we are doing it very cautiously because we want to do it with great quality ”. Was this a hint at a cheaper iPhone in any smartphone , as well as optical image stabilisation to increase picture quality in low light . It also features dual capture , enabling it to take a 38-megapixel image and create a five-megapixel picture that can be shared across social networks .

Nokia did a fine job of demonstrating the camera

during the launch , with Elop comparing images of two Nokia employees jumping in the air taken with the 1020 , Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 . The results were eye-catching – the S4 and iPhone 5 pictures were blurred , while the Lumia 1020 snap was clear . He also showed a video close-up of some bees in a beehive . This , assuming it was 100 per cent genuine , was incredible , and it more than backed Elop ’ s claims of being able to see things through the 1020 ’ s lens that your eyes cannot .

Scepticism However , analysts threw lukewarm – rather than freezing cold – water on Nokia ’ s strategy . IDC research director for European mobile devices Francisco Jeronimo said the

High-resolution picture taken on the new Nokia Lumia 1020 phone

to match Chinese consumers ’ budgets ? We ’ ll have to wait and see – Apple said it will bring out new products in the autumn and throughout 2014 .

The second worry which may keep Apple execs up at night is falling iPad sales . Global sales fell from 17 million in Q3 last year to 14.6 million . This looks worse when you put it into context with tablet sales forecasts . IDC , for example , predicts a 58.7 per cent yearon-year increase in tablet sales in 2013 . Either the analysis firm is incorrect or other manufacturers are encroaching on Apple ’ s tablet market share .

It ’ s not all doom and gloom though . Cook pointed out that recent research shows 84 per cent of tablet data usage comes from iPads . “ Maybe other tablets are being sold , but I don ’ t know what they are being used for ,” he joked .

The third source of potential concern is the continuing decline in the average selling price , or ASP , of iPhones ( we saw very similar things in Apple ’ s Q2 ). Apple ’ s profits fell from

Lumia 1020 could become a niche product , while Ovum principal device analyst Tony Cripps and uSwitch . com telecoms expert Ernest Doku doubted its appeal .

Following the publication of its Q2 results one week after the launch , Elop spoke of Nokia ’ s need to be different and

“ If you want to leave your digital camera at home , the 1020 is an obvious choice ”

innovative and took a shot at rivals for rehashing products . The firm ’ s smartphone growth was also impressive – sales of its Lumia range were up by 32 per cent from Q1 .

Nokia has to separate itself from its smartphone rivals in order to continue its recovery and in doing so , must have technology and devices that will make consumers sit up and take notice .

The Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z , two of the most high-end smartphones , have 13-megapixel cameras . The iPhone 5 has an eightmegapixel camera and therefore doesn ’ t even come close to the Lumia 1020 .

Camera appeal According to smartphone owners interviewed in 25 countries as part of the IDC 2012 ConsumerScope 360 Survey , camera resolution was the 15th most important feature out of 23 they said they looked for when buying a smartphone .

I ’ m dubious about these results . Visit any tourist attraction or concert and the scene is dominated by people taking pictures on their phones .

Conversations overhead during Mystery Shopper demonstrate camera quality is a key selling point for a device , and for those wanting to leave their digital camera at home the Nokia 1020 is an obvious choice .

$ 8.8 billion (£ 5.7 billion ) in Q3 2012 to $ 6.9 billion (£ 4.5 billion ) in the same period this year . According to analyst firm IHS , Apple ’ s ASP has been declining since Q1 – October , November , December 2012 – due to a shift in product mix towards the older iPhone 4 and 4S models .

IHS said this will continue as the high-end market is so saturated .

Indeed , with the proliferation of top-spec phones on the market , Apple needs to do something to protect its ASP , while at the same time capturing the Chinese market . There ’ s talk of iPhones with bigger screens ( it worked for Samsung ) and cheaper versions of the iPhone ( Samsung and HTC have both released cheaper ‘ Mini ’ versions of their flagships ) so it will be interesting to see if Apple goes down either or both of these routes .

From what Oppenheimer told investors last week , Apple ’ s autumn is set to be “ very busy ” – we only have a few more months to wait to find out .

September

6-11 IFA 2013 Berlin , Germany

b2b . ifa-berlin . com

October

8-11 Spectrum Management Forum DexterHouse , London

spectrumevent . com

14-17 GSMA NFC and Mobile Money Summit New York , USA

nfcmobilemoneysummit . com

16-17 IP Expo Earls Court 2 , London

ipexpo . co . uk

November

4-6 MVNO Networking Congress The Hilton , Paddington , London

mvnoevent . com

11-13 Enterprise Mobility BYOD Dexter House , London

byod-event . com

12-13 Mobile Roaming World Summit The Hilton , Paddington , London

roamingworldconference . com

14 What Mobile Awards Jumeirah Carlton Tower , Knightsbridge , London

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MN 2013-0730 Opinion . indd 20 24 / 07 / 2013 18:04