DUBAI, 27 November 2005 -- The regional and world markets for mobile phones are likely to exceed expectations in 2006. "The outlook for next year is very bright both within the Gulf and the world over," a senior executive of a major mobile brand told Arab News in an interview here last week. "In fact, the robust growth will continue and exceed all expectations as it did in 2005," Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president and general manager, Multimedia Nokia, said.
He said Nokia was considering a plan to Arabize its advanced multimedia products, expected a large portion of the expanding market for mobile phones to come from China, one of the fastest growing markets, and India, he said on the sidelines of the Finland-based company's Middle East and Africa converged mobile event. Three Nokia Nseries multimedia computers were presented for the first time in the MEA region and only the second time globally.
China is estimated to have another 250 million subscribers by 2010, strengthening its position as the single largest mobile market in the world. The country of more than one billion population currently has about 380 million mobile subscribers.
Nokia, which claims to produce one in three mobile phones sold worldwide, has forecast that the mobile device market in 2005 would reach 780 million units. The company sold 30 percent more phones in the third-quarter compared with year earlier as a result of booming sales in China and India. Its net sales rose 18 percent during the third quarter. The growth is attributed to the introduction of new models and aggressive pricing, he added.
Nokia has detailed its strategy for the coming year and intended to invest heavily in its channel partners. The company has set out a five-point plan, the first of which is to develop stronger channel and customer relationships. This will include recruitment and training of more resellers with knowledge of the mobile market, and the recruitment of a small direct sales team for big name clients. "We're spending on expanding the channel, which is a big area for us," he said, adding that the company is looking to expand the channel in the UK and Europe.
The device portfolio will also be beefed up with more releases in the E series smartphone category. The company has set itself a goal of outpacing the average rate of mobile phone sales. "More and more phones will have mobile e-mail built in, as part of the third leg of the strategy is to get more people using mobile applications," Vanjoki said. Other moves include setting up an easy-to-use download portal that will enable all users to choose and install applications more easily.
"The most important key area is security," Vanjoki added. Nokia is already the number two mobile fireball vendor and is looking to diversify its security application portfolio to offer more protection, particularly for the corporate sector.
Finally, Nokia's services will be improved with the launch of a professional services practice, as it is also set to enhance the level of services it already has for hardware and technical support.
He said demand was increasing as phone companies in Brazil, Russia, India and China sign up customers and European and US consumers buy more advanced phones. The company sold 23 million mobile phones in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the nine months ended September.
By K.S. Ramkumar
© Arab News 2005
