Cholmes Nokia Blog

PARIS (Reuters) – Sales of smartphones are set to grow 12-15 percent in 2009, said Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, the consortium of companies around the world’s most popular smartphone operating system.

Smartphones are seen as a bright spot on the shrinking cellphone market this year, with some analysts forecasting above 30 percent market growth for phones with advanced capabilities like e-mail or Internet browsing.

“For the first time people are realizing you don’t have to carry your digital camera with you and your phone, for the first time people are realizing that you can do your email and access Internet services on your mobile phone,” Williams said on Tuesday at the Reuters Global Technology summit in Paris.

He said larger display sizes and more memory for media such as music were also encouraging consumers to buy smartphones.

ARM, the world’s leading chip designer, said on Monday it expects the smartphone market to grow 10 percent, while France’s second-largest mobile operator SFR said it was seeing strong demand for smartphones.

“There we are seeing strong demand and strong growth,” SFR Chief Executive Frank Esser said at the summit.

The overall cellphone market contracted in January-March at the fastest pace in its history, with analysts estimating production falling 13-16 percent — with most expecting 2009 market to fall 10 percent or more due to the recession.

Williams said the mood in the wireless industry has improved somewhat, with companies starting to see “the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“They realize they are still in a tunnel and they don’t know how long it will take to the light, but if you go back two or three months nobody could even see the light,” Williams said.

“It’s still tight and awful … I do think some still have to be hit by a train in this tunnel though,” he said.

So far, Canada’s wireless equipment maker Nortel Networks and Germany’s Qimonda have filed for bankruptcy protection, while many loss-making firms are struggling to refinance their debt.

LOOKING FOR CHINA BOOST

Williams said he expects membership of the foundation to grow to more than 100, excluding independent software vendors, by the end of 2009. In February Symbian said it had 78 members.

The foundation inherits intellectual property from Nokia and other former shareholders of UK-based smartphone maker Symbian.

Nokia bought out other shareholders of Symbian last year, and committed to give all its software to an independent foundation, which will develop it on an open-source basis, meaning all members can freely use and adapt the code.

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Nokia News 20 May 2009

cassieholmes — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:12:35 +0000

Nokia N97 News Roundup With Pre-Order Links
http://www.symbian-guru.com/welcome/2009/05/nokia-n97-news-roundup-with-pre-order-links.html

Sample Pics Taken from Nokia N97 5 Mega Pixel Camera
http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2009/05/20/sample-pics-taken-from-nokia-n97-5-mega-pixel-camera.html

Deal Alert: Nokia E75 for $350 and E63 for $150 at Dell
http://nokiaexperts.com/deal-alert-nokia-e75-350-e63-150-dell/

White Nokia N97 Light Leakage Fixed
http://thenokiablog.com/2009/05/19/white-nokia-n97-light-leakage-fixed/

Gigantic Nokia N97 Review! Live Pics, Sample Pics and Screenshots!
http://mynokiablog.com/2009/05/19/nokia-n97-review/

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic In Pictures
http://symbianworld.org/1477-nokia-5800-xpressmusic-in-pictures/

Nokia N97 Photo Gallery
http://dailymobile.se/2009/05/19/nokia-n97-photo-gallery-3/

Poll: Nokia N97 – Would You Like That in White or Black?
http://thenokiablog.com/2009/05/19/poll-nokia-n97-would-you-like-that-in-white-or-black/

Mobile Fun Fact 19 May 2009

cassieholmes — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:11:35 +0000

Did you know that only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that on average most have several old devices lying around at home they no longer want. 74% say they don’t think about recycling their mobile phone. 50% of people were unaware that is is possible to recycle mobile phones. If everyone recycled just one of their mobile phones, what could we achieve? Check out nokia.com/werecycle for more info.

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Nokia News 19 May 2009

cassieholmes — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:02:06 +0000

Nokia N97 Demo at Nokia Developer Summit 09
http://dailymobile.se/2009/05/19/nokia-n97-demo-at-nokia-developer-summit-09/

Nokia 5800 Comes with Music sim-free
http://noknok.tv/2009/05/18/nokia-5800-comes-with-music-sim-free/

10 Things I Like About The Nokia E75
http://thesymbianblog.com/2009/05/19/10-things-i-like-about-the-nokia-e75/

How to Install E71 Themes
http://www.phawville.com/blog/how-to-install-e71-themes/

Nokia N97 v HTC Touch Diamond 2
http://noknok.tv/2009/05/18/nokia-n97-v-htc-touch-diamond-2/

preorder N97 for 499 pounds UK
http://m.pocket-lint.com/news/news.phtml/24154/nokia-n97-available-pound499-pre-order.phtml

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49302290,00.htm

Nokia 5800: Gavin And Stacey pre-loaded for free
http://noknok.tv/2009/05/18/nokia-5800-gavin-and-stacey-pre-loaded-for-free/

AAS Insight 71 – answering frequently asked questions
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/9498_AAS_Insight_71-answering_frequ.php

Nokia E52 High Quality Pictures
http://dailymobile.se/2009/05/18/nokia-e52-high-quality-pictures/

Nokia N97 Gets Reviewed in Russia
http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2009/05/18/nokia-n97-gets-reviewed-in-russia.html

Video: Symbian – What it’s all about for a Developer
http://zomgitscj.com/video-symbian-what-its-about-for-a-developer/

Interview with Nimbuzz: The Instant Messaging Giant
http://www.nokiamobiletalk.com/2009/05/nimbuzz-interview/

Network Norway becomes first operator to offer Scandinavia Nokia Messaging
http://zomgitscj.com/network-norway-first-operator-scandinavia-nokia-messaging/

Nokia Friend View gets optimized for S60 Touch
http://www.intomobile.com/2009/05/18/nokia-friend-view-gets-optimized-for-s60-touch.html

The Power Of The Nokia N79
http://www.symbian-guru.com/welcome/2009/05/the-power-of-the-nokia-n79.html

ABI Research: Economic conditions reducing mobile end-user spending up to 15%

cassieholmes — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:25:26 +0000

Mobile end-user ARPUs (average revenue per user) dropped between 5% and 15% year-over-year in Q4 2008 compared to Q4 2007. China, India, and a number of other Asian markets dropped more than 10%; while Europe saw ARPU contracting in the range of -5 to -8%. In North America, ARPU did not nosedive, thanks to the growth of mobile data usage. Finally, markets in South America were more mixed with some of them deflating inline and others, like Brazil, managing to hold up ARPUs.

Mobile data (messaging + mobile Internet) contributes 38% of Japanese ARPUs, and many European operators depend on mobile data for over 25% to 30% of their ARPU.

One of the fastest growing revenue segments for mobile operators is, unsurprisingly, mobile Internet, which saw growth between 15% and 25% for Q4 2008. On that note, ABI Research expects absolute mobile Internet revenues to continue growing robustly in spite of the economic downturn this year.

As for the end-user voice traffic, it still managed to grow between 2% and 10% depending on the market, but revenue/minute continues to decline, as users start embracing mobile data applications such as messaging, web browsing and game downloads.

More information about ABI Research’s study titled “Mobile Subscriber ARPU, Voice, Messaging and Data Traffic Market Data” is available from their website.

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Nokia News 18 May 2009

cassieholmes — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:09:06 +0000

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCVIII: Nokia E75 isn’t a Nokia E75
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/16/keepin-it-real-fake-part-ccviii-nokia-e75-isnt-a-nokia-e75/

Nokia N97 Review by Phat-Trance
http://dailymobile.se/2009/05/16/nokia-n97-review-2/

Nokia N97 vs Nokia 5800 Camera Angle Comparison
http://thenokiablog.com/2009/05/16/nokia-n97-vs-nokia-5800-camera-angle-comparison/

Nokia’s E52 Is a Huge Improvement Over the E51
http://www.nokiaphoneblog.com/?p=1977

The N97, my experience. (CJ’s E65 blog)
http://carltone65.wordpress.com/2009/05/16/the-n97-my-experience/

This week in fake Nokia devices: E99, N66 Superman, N86, N100 iPhone, 5900 XM
http://www.intomobile.com/2009/05/17/this-week-in-fake-nokia-devices-e99-n66-superman-n86-n100-iphone-5900-xm.html

Nokia 5800 Disassembly
http://dailymobile.se/2009/05/17/nokia-5800-disassemble/

12 days with the n97
http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/009/05/impressions_from_12_days_long_testing_of_the_nokia_n97.htm

Nokia N97 NAM launching June 2nd?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/17/nokia-n97-nam-launching-june-2nd/

What comes with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and how to replace anything that’s missing
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/What_comes_with_the_Nokia_5800_XpressMusic_and_how_to_replace_anything_thats_missing.php

How to use Bluetooth on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/How_to_use_Bluetooth_on_the_Nokia_5800_XpressMusic.php

Nokia E71 rocks in Europe too
http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2009/05/16/nokia-e71-rocks-in-europe-too.html

Nokia launches Star Trek mini site
http://www.intomobile.com/2009/05/16/nokia-launches-star-trek-mini-site.html