Nokia’s new N8 smartphone has very impressive specifications and is perhaps the best smartphone launched yet by the Finnish mobile phone maker. Its powerful camera features, Symbian 3 OS, huge storage capacity (up to 48GB via a microSD card slot) are certain to attract early adopters but can it be a threat to Apple’s iPhone 4?
Analysts don’t think so. Though the N8 is “a clear improvement” over previous Nokia offerings, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi feels the N8 will not be able to wipe the floor with the latest competitions.
According to independent technology analyst Per Lindberg, the N8 is “certainly a step in the right direction (as) it’s much more multimedia” than previous Nokia smartphones but “whether it will move Nokia’s market share upwards is more debatable.”
Ovum’s Tony Cripps also feels the N8 is far from being industry changing. “I don’t think Nokia would position the N8 as a revolutionary device,” Cripps said.
There are five reasons why the N8 will not be able to beat the iPhone 4 or the latest smartphones launched by rivals such as Motorola, HTC or Samsung.
One: Weak processor Nokia claims the N8 has a “lightning fast processor” and is capable of rendering graphics and playing videos and games “smoother and faster” than previous Nokia smartphones.
Technically Nokia is right because Nokia’s last smartphone, the N97, ran on a 434MHz processor while the N8 runs on a 680MHz processor.
However, to call the N8’s processor “lightning fast” is a misnomer. The reason is because the latest top-end smartphones all run on a more powerful processor. For instance, Apple’s iPhone 4, HTC’s Evo 4G, Motorola’s Droid 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy S all run on the more powerful 1GHz processor. In other words, comparing the processor of the N8 with the abovementioned smartphones is similar to comparing an Oldsmobile to a Lamborghini.
Two: Low memory For a top-end smartphone, the N8 has a very low memory capacity. The device has only 256MB of SDRAM while its high-end rivals boast of 512MB SDRAM. In other words, if you run too many applications at once, you will soon see the N8 succumbing to the pressure.
Three: Symbian OS Though Symbian OS is the strength of the N8, it is also its biggest weakness.
According to industry research firm Gartner Inc., though Symbian OS will control 40.1 percent of the smartphone market in 2010, it will witness the sharpest drop in 2014 – to 30.2 percent. The declines witnessed by RIM (BlackBerry OS), Apple Inc. (iOS) and Microsoft (Windows Phone OS) will be less. The only OS seen gaining over this period is Google’s Android OS, whose market share will surge from 17.7 percent in 2010 to 29.6 percent in 2014.
The sharp decline in market share of Symbian OS is because there’s nothing to set it apart from others.
According to CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood, though Nokia has made progress on the Symbian OS, the N8 is not positioned to challenge Apple’s iPhone. The newly launched smartphones, Wood said, were “critical to Nokia” but the Symbian software, despite refinements aimed at making it easier for developers to write apps for the phones, was “not positioned to challenge the iPhone.”
“Nobody doubts Nokia’s credentials. It has the market share but has lost the mindshare,” Wood said.
“Nokia, along with all the other mobile manufacturers, has been wrongfooted by Apple and Google and it will be a tough road to recovery,” he added.
Another possible reason for Symbian’s decline could be the inability of Symbian devices to update beyond the core system software with which they shipped.
Updates are an essential part of how smartphones work, not only to offer bug fixes, but to introduce new features, and develop brand equity and loyal users.
Major smartphone OS like Android, BlackBerry OS and iOS offer upgrade paths beyond core system updates.
For instance, users of the two-year old iPhone 3G can upgrade their device from iOS 2.0 to iOS 4.1. In yet another example, people who bought the Motorola Droid last year got Android 2.0 OS but the device now can be upgraded to Android 2.2.
However, historically, Nokia has not supported a commercial upgrade path for older Nokia Symbian-based devices. For example, a device that shipped with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 could not update to S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2.
In other words, though Nokia will launch Symbian 4 OS soon, N8 users could well be stuck with Symbian 3.
Four: Internal battery The N8’s battery isn’t meant to be replaced by the end user just like the iPhone 4’s battery. This is made clear by the fact that the device is sealed and held together with screws.
Nokia has also recommend N8 users not to try replacing the battery. “It can easily be replaced at a Nokia service center,” the company said in a blog post.
Five: Price The N8 costs will $549 in the United States and €370, excluding taxes and subsidies, in Europe. It means someone living in the United States has to dig deep into his/her pocket to own the N8. In comparison, one can get the iPhone 4 (32GB) for only $299 by signing up a 2-year contract with AT&T. Other top-end smartphones like BlackBerry Torch 9800, Droid 2, Evo 4G and Samsung Galaxy S cost are available at subsidized price between $149 and $249 if you tie up with an operator.
Not surprisingly some feel Nokia’s insistence on selling its devices unsubsidized and without operator input is an arrogance on the company’s part that has become its pitfall.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Nokia N8 is no ‘iPhone killer.’ It may also find it difficult to compete with smartphones such as Evo 4G, Droid X and Galaxy S. However, the launch of the N8 is a step in the right direction, analysts said.
It is a good start by a company which has always struggled in the high-margin smartphone segment and could herald the beginning of the company’s fight back to smartphone leadership, they said.
Source:http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/65638/20100925/smartphone-shootout-nokia-n8-versus-apple-iphone-4-2.htm
