If iPhone has enigma and reach, Nokia N96 is dialling the marketing number.

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If iPhone has enigma and reach, Nokia N96 is dialling the marketing number. But then, Nokia cannot afford to lose out to Apple’s iPhone. By pawan chabra

Imagine the delight that would have lit up author J.K. Rowling’s face when she heard that people have been actually queuing up since midnight to get their hands on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series. Well, Apple’s Steve Jobs must have been anticipating something similar, with all the hype surrounding the iPhone’s launch in India. But instead of delight, his facial muscles ended up being concentrated in a frown. Why? Well, big brother Nokia had managed to steal the thunder. Fearing that the iPhone may snatch its lead in the Indian market, Nokia, in a surprise move, announced the India-launch of its N96 – a feature-rich smart phone from its N series stable, scheduled for launch much later in the country.

The industry is already hailing the N96 as the ‘iPhone killer’ and clearly these marketers have a war on hand. Already, most consumers who had been impatiently waiting to buy the iPhone as soon as it hit the stores have shelved their plans to wait for the N96 (to be launched on 16th September), compare the two handsets, and only then make a studied decision. Highlighting the imminent power of this newest model, Devinder Kishore, Director-Marketing, Nokia India says, “If the N series belonged to someone else other than Nokia, that player could alone become the second largest handset manufacturer in the country.”

To be fair, Apple iPhone’s global success story is almost legendary and the legacy has travelled to India, giving Apple’s smart phone the aspirational edge in Indian consumer-scope. In fact, to deal with criticism over its premium pricing, both Airtel & Vodafone (exclusive partners for iPhone in India) belatedly launched EMI schemes to lure in more buyers. Sanjay Gupta, CMO (Mobile services), Bharti Airtel, believes that the tie-up with Visa for finance options will “provide a new opportunity for consumers who aspire to own the 3G iPhone” and widen the market for the product in India. Incidentally, AT&T is able to sell the iPhone for $199 onwards globally, as the subsidy can easily be recovered because of higher ARPUs in developed nations. But Airtel and Vodafone do not have that luxury as lower ARPUs in India will not allow them to recover subsidy costs anytime soon.

Nokia too will pull all stops to stop iPhone’s success in India (like the surprise launch of N96) – largely because it cannot afford to let Apple win the Smart Phone battle in India. Nokia commands over 70% share of Indian handset market, with about 6-7% total share of smart phones. With the maturing of the handset mart, more users are expected to shift to smart phones, and Nokia does not want to stumble on this growth trajectory. Other smart phone players are also gearing up to cash in. Ajay Sharma, Country Manager, HTC India says that he’s ready for the battle ahead. “If we just limit it to smart phones, we can give Nokia a run for their money any day.” On the iPhone, Sharma says that till the time 3G is not available in the country, “people buying 3G phones are wasting their money unnecessarily,” but is confident of HTC’s ability to flood the market with 3G phones when the technology will get the green signal.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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