Nokia began giving away professional GPS navigation software on 10 of its smartphones on Thursday, matching a competitive move by Google. The move deals a blow to the leaders in the market for specialized navigation devices, Garmin and TomTom.
GPS mapping software has been one of the most popular applications for mobile phones. Nokia’s decision to turn it into a giveaway may complicate its own efforts to generate revenue from mobile services and to recoup the $8.1 billion it spent in October 2007 to buy NavTeq, a maker of digital mapping data in Chicago.
Nokia, the global leader in cellphone handsets, said it had made available through its Web site a new, free version of its Ovi Maps software which includes turn-by-turn instructions for 74 countries, with vocal prompts in 46 languages, and maps for an additional 106 countries.
“By adding cameras at no extra cost to our phones, we quickly became the biggest camera manufacturer in the world,” said Anssi Vanjoki, a Nokia executive vice president. “The aim of the new Ovi Maps is to enable us to do the same for navigation.”
Nokia, the mobile phone maker based in Finland, called its move “game-changing,” but analysts were skeptical it would stem the slide in Nokia’s share of the top-end market.
One analyst described the decision by Nokia to give away professional GPS navigation software to increase sales of its flagging smartphone line and as a defensive response to Google, which last year became the first to give away its own mapping software on phones using its Android operating system.
“This is an incremental step forward for Nokia to help them compete with Google,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst in London with Strategy Analytics. “This also fits with the recent trend where Google piles into a market, gives away a key application for free, and forces the competition to respond.”
Nokia’s stock was little changed after the announcement, but shares of TomTom, the Dutch maker of auto navigation equipment, plunged more than 9 percent in Amsterdam.
Through last September, Nokia’s share of the smartphone market — handsets with advanced computing capability — slipped to 38 percent, from 53 percent two years earlier.
Apple’s share in the meantime has grown from zero to 17 percent through September, with Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry, holding steady at 20 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.
Free navigation may not make much of a difference by itself, said Jan Dworsky, an analyst at Handelsbanken in Stockholm.
“What Nokia needs to do is develop a portfolio of products that compete better with Apple,” Mr. Dworsky said. “This is turning into a very competitive space.”
Nokia is expected to introduce Symbian 4, its long-awaited response to Apple, in the second half of the year. Symbian 4 is the latest version of its operating software, which aims to provide touch-screen speeds and manipulation on a level with the iPhone.
In December 2008, Google announced that it would give away its Android operating system at no cost to handset makers.
The move forced Nokia, which had been charging other handset makers about $5 a unit to install its Symbian operating system, to match Google’s offer and give away Symbian, Mr. Mawston said.
Contact telCade.com to supply xDSL filters, Cable & Wires needs!
Posts
