- 2018-10-12
Nokia's curve self-help
Familiar one percent market share, there is a feeling of deja vu. Once the Nokia Windows Phone mobile phone, in the end, the remaining 1% was slowly consumed. Today, HMD, which has taken over Nokia's mobile phone business, is regrouping, and after just two years, it has brought Nokia's smartphone business back to the right track and returned to the top ten global mobile phone sales.
Recently, the four major market research institutions have all released reports on the global mobile phone market shipments for the second quarter of 2018. In addition to Huawei's outstanding performance, after all, it surpassed Apple for the first time to become the world's second largest mobile phone manufacturer. In addition, another mobile phone manufacturer HMD has also successfully attracted everyone's attention. HMD's debut time is not long, but the story behind it is very interesting. At present, with Nokia's 1% global market share in the second quarter of 2018, HMD has leapt to the ninth position in the world. CounterPoint, a foreign research agency, recently provided a report on the market share of smartphones in the second quarter of this year. This statistics basically covers all mobile phone brands in the world, and the most eye-catching performance is undoubtedly the "veteran rookie" Nokia (Nokia).
Looking at the top five rankings this quarter and last quarter, Samsung, Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO and other old faces have not changed. It's just that their respective ranking positions have changed. With a further expansion of the perspective, you will find a very eye-catching brand in the Top 10 list-HMD, or Nokia.
In the list, Nokia's sales growth is very "explosive." Reached an appalling 782%. Compared with last year's 500,000 units, Nokia's global shipments in the second quarter of this year bucked the trend and reached 4.5 million units, achieving a rapid growth of nearly 8 times.
At the same time, Nokia's market share has also squeezed from "others" into the Top 10, ranking ninth in the world. The "old friends" Sony and HTC, who had grown up in the same period, have disappeared and disappeared in the vast sea of "others".
Nokia returns to the mainstream smartphone market
This seems to have proved that even after Nokia has left the mainstream smart phone market for many years, it still retains a strong brand appeal and influence on the market. What's even more emotional is that Nokia has been around for a long time, and HMD is still very young. It was established in December 2016 and it has been less than two years since it took over the Nokia logo.
Nokia Corporation is a multinational company headquartered in Espoo, Finland, mainly engaged in the production of mobile communication equipment and related services.
Founded in 1865, Nokia is mainly engaged in logging and papermaking, and gradually expands into rubber shoes, tires, cables and other fields. Later, it developed into a mobile phone manufacturer, focusing on basic communications and advanced technology R&D and authorization.
Once dominance
On February 11, 2011, Nokia and Microsoft reached a global strategic alliance and cooperated in-depth to jointly develop the Windows Phone operating system. However, in the face of the rise of smartphones with new operating systems, Nokia's global mobile phone sales position was surpassed by Samsung in the first quarter of 2012, ending its 14-year market dominance.
On September 3, 2013, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Nokia's equipment and services division for approximately 5.44 billion euros, and obtained relevant patents and brand authorizations. In the future, Nokia will strive to develop the three pillar businesses of Here map service, solutions and network (NSN) and leading technology.
Nokia announced on April 25, 2014 that it had completed its mobile phone business transaction with Microsoft. After selling its equipment and services business to Microsoft, Nokia officially withdrew from the mobile phone market. On the same day, Nokia appointed Rajeev Suri as Nokia’s president and CEO.
Nokia officially released its first Android tablet (Nokia N1) on November 18, 2014. After that, Nokia will focus on mobile network infrastructure software and services, surveying and mapping navigation and intelligent positioning, advanced technology development and authorization.
On November 18, 2015, Nokia carried out a major corporate plan and officially launched the $16.6 billion acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. On May 18, 2016, the Nokia brand was authorized to HMD and Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Group, for manufacturing.
Rise, fall, and catch up again
In fact, Nokia, which was once the global leader in the mobile phone field and once ranked first in market value among listed companies in the world, has given the market a lot of enlightenment from its rise, decline, and its efforts to catch up. Nokia used to be the global leader in the field of mobile phones, but because it was just working hard and ignoring changes in the world, the global leader in the field of mobile phones was replaced by the ever-innovating Apple and Samsung.
In 2013, it sold its core mobile phone business for a mere US$7.2 billion, which was less than a fraction of the company's market value of hundreds of billions during its glorious period.
From the sale of the company's headquarters building at the end of 2012 to the sale of its core business at a "cabbage price" in 2013, it seems that the former giant, who was struggling in a difficult situation, is really coming to an end. A company that has been brilliant for more than a decade has gone into ruin in just three or two years. Nokia's sinking has given us three enlightenments.
At that time, the market participants also realized that a brand is not a panacea, and the power of a brand alone cannot make consumers love you forever without discussing it.
Nokia's brand is not unremarkable. Don't say that it is in the midst of the day, and it has been in decline in these years, and its brand value is still among the best in the world. Although it fell out of the top ten in the world in 2011, it still remained at the fourteenth place, and its brand value was even higher than that of BMW and Louis Vuitton. However, the golden sign of the brand did not prevent Nokia's rapid decline in market share.
With HMD's efforts, Nokia is finally back on track, but the road ahead is still very difficult. However, it can still get such results in such a highly competitive market environment, which is considered to be a more moisturizing one among the classic old brands. Compared with brands such as Sony, Blackberry, and Moto, Nokia's curve of self-help is quite successful.