Tuesday 4 October 2011

Nokia- the good was'nt as good....the bad certainly not as bad..

I know Nokia got a lot of things wrong in the Indian market recently: they were late on the dual sim phone, qwerty keyboard....cheap 'smart phones'.

But when i saw a recent brand survey done by the economic times and saw Nokia slipping down 15 ranks in the SEC C segment (low income and education bracket), i was indeed surprised. Additionally, Nokia retains top spot among the SEC A (high income, education segment)- the segment which has coveted the smartphones- a segment where Nokia has also struggled in a big way globally.

So what explains this? The low end consumer who needs durable and rugged kicks Nokia for a dual sim (Nokia phones are without doubt better in robustness than any local brand) and the high end consumer embraces the brand that does not serve him well.

I must speak to friends at Nokia to understand their perception of the results.

My own assessment is that on quality the phone is tops. In terms of range, wide.
With its dual sim phones, the brand will capture the loyalty of its customers down the income strata. But unless its top end phones regain their mojo, loyalty at the top end will be lost shortly.

Lets wait and watch.
Venkat

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