Nokia eyes Apple and Google markets

MOBILE PHONE maker Nokia took its first steps in its attempts to regain ground against rivals Apple and Google at its Nokia World developers’ conference in London.

Niklas Savander, Nokia’s executive vice-president of markets, brushed aside any talk of the mobile maker’s troubles in the past few years. “Today is all about here and now. Nokia is back.”

The mobile maker has lost ground to Apple, with its iPhone, and phones using Google’s Android system, which have gained market share in recent months. However, Nokia claimed its Symbian system was still the most popular smartphone platform.

The company unveiled new handsets and revealed a strategy for winning over developers, including a set revenue split with developers, absorbing the cost of publishing applications through its Ovi store and making programming for the platform simpler.

It showed off the next generation of Nokia Communicator, the E7, and revealed its latest touchscreen C6 and C7 devices.

The mobile maker also levelled some blows at rivals.

“Yes, Nokia is going through a tough challenging transition, and we have a lot more work to do. But we’ve laid the foundation for success. We’re not going to apologise for the fact that we’re not Apple or Google or Samsung, or anyone else,” Mr Savander said.

“When it comes to our customers we know that just one device will not satisfy all of them. Even in the high-end, offering people just one model will inevitably lead to compromises, whether its compromises with the camera, the browser, the keyboard or the phone itself.”

The event was overshadowed by the announcement that Nokia is to undergo further management changes, with chairman Jorma Ollilia to step down in 2012.

Last week it was announced that chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo would depart before the end of this month, to be replaced by Microsoft’s Stephen Elop.

On Monday, the company’s executive vice-president of mobile solutions, Anssi Vanjoki, said he would also be stepping down.