Both Nokia and Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), have been struggling after losing market share in the smartphone industry. While BlackBerry’s future is uncertain, Nokia just released a stunning Windows-based smartphone, the Lumia 920. Even though Nokia’s Windows Phone 8, or WP8, devices are packed with a lot of features, there is still doubt on whether or not Nokia can compete with the market giants. Here is a SWOT analysis of Nokia, which will reflect Nokia’s current position and the things you need to look out for in the future.
Strengths
Nokia still dominates the Windows smartphone market, and even though that market is still quite small, Nokia leads Samsung and HTC with its Lumia line of smartphones. This is a major strength, and if the Windows Phone market as a whole grows, then Nokia is likely to grow as well.
BlackBerry and Apple, on the other hand, use their own software and hardware. While Apple is still one of the leaders in the industry, BlackBerry will rely on its new operating system, BB10. People are aware of WP8, but BlackBerry 10 is a totally new OS, and BlackBerry’s market share will only grow if people actually like it.
Another strength for Nokia is that it has a market for all types of customers. The high-end Lumia line is aimed towards people with higher budgets, while low-end Lumia phones, like the Lumia 620, are aimed towards people who are tight on money but still need a good smartphone. The Asha line is aimed towards people with even lower budgets, who need a good mobile phone with some quality features.
Apple lacks this variety. Its iPhones are expensive, which limits their potential customer base and excludes those with tigher budgets. Similarly, the BlackBerry 10 smartphones are also expensive, and are targeted towards a set audience.
Weaknesses
While the Asha line might not need major improvements due to the price tag, the Lumia smartphones certainly have some flaws. Firstly, the Lumia 920’s hardware is not as up-to-date compared to its price tag. It is definitely a brilliant smartphone but with its price tag, you should expect at least a quad-core processor.
Most new devices, such as the Galaxy S3 and the LG Nexus 4, are packed with quad-core processors while the Lumia 920 is only packed with a dual-core processor. Even though Nokia features a completely different OS and requirements for hardware, the latest hardware is required in order to compete against giants in the industry. BlackBerry 10 also features a dual-core processor, however, it is a phone designed for multitasking which is why it features 2GB of RAM compared to 1GB on the Lumia 920.
The relatively small app store on WP is seen as another weakness for Nokia’s Lumia line. Nokia finds itself standing close to BlackBerry 10 in terms of the number of apps available and even though there are many quality apps available on both the app stores, Nokia and BlackBerry are far behind than Apple and Android. Apple’s app store is almost 8 to 10 times bigger than the current app stores of BB10 and WP8 and users are clearly missing apps like Instagram and Spotify.
