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Sorry Nokia, you failed

February 23rd, 2012

Yes, it is your thinking. We are probably more advanced than what you think.

It suddens and shocks me that brands like Nokia send us their “leftovers” in technology, Yes…

Take the Nokia N9 for example (being marketed heavily in our markets with many telecoms), it was not released in the US or the UK because MeeGo (the operating system running on that device) was shut down and Nokia wants to focus on its Windows Phone initiative. So, the phone is only available in our region, and Australia probably.

Quoting them:

“At this time we will not be making it available in the US. Nokia takes a market by market approach to product rollout, and each country makes its own decisions about which products to introduce from those available. Decisions are based on an assessment of existing and upcoming products that make up Nokia’s extensive product portfolio and the best way in which to address local market opportunities.”

Now, the questions are…
“Who would buy a new phone that runs on a system that has been axed?”
“Do you think us Arabs aren’t smart enough to buy better phones?”
“Do you think we’re fascinated by your cheap App Petrol ads you run in the cinema or at the malls?”

It is obviously not going to be supported properly, and there will be no updates or apps. Better to not sell it than put it in the shops and promote it and then have the humiliation of no one buying it. Several more months before the Windows Phone models arrive, and the Android/iPhone market inflation.

That is a shame. This is a frightening example of a stagnating company with poor manangement trying to revitalise itself by taking on even worse management and a poor choice in software. Now it’s all too late and Nokia really has to bet the farm on the company with the worst record in the mobile sector.

Advice to Nokia: Keep thinking low of the MENA market and you’ll keep losing your shares, and guess what? Samsung, LG, Apple, Sony & others realized and appreciated the market. You’ve lost the game! It goes from bad to worse. Shame, you used to make some good phones.

Cheerio, Nokia. It was nice knowing you.

tl;dr summery

The Nokia N9 is one of the most tragic stories around because its a great smartphone that unfortunately launched at the wrong time (after Nokia killed its MeeGo software before releasing it). Nokia N9 runs on MeeGo, which Nokia announced would be replaced by Windows Phone in all of Nokia’s new smartphones before the Nokia N9 hit the stores (but for our region, the MENA region) That news led to the smartphone not being adopted by any operators in the UK or the US, which is a shame because it got excellent reviews across the board but the lack of a supported software.