Nokia World Kicks Off With Three New Smartphones
The three new models, the Nokia E7, Nokia C7 and an updated version of the Nokia C6, join Nokia's recently confirmed N8 phone as Nokia smartphones running the latest version of Symbian. In an official release, Nokia acknowledged its precarious position as the worldwide leader in mobile phones, but touted Symbian's position as the market share leader among smartphone OSes.
"Today our fight back to smartphone leadership shifts into high gear," said Niklas Savander, executive vice president, markets, in a statement. "Despite new competition, Symbian remains the most widely used smartphone platform in the world."
Nokia divides the releases by describing their intended use. The Nokia E7 is what Nokia is calling "the ultimate business smartphone." It includes a 4-inch touchscreen display featuring Nokia ClearBack, and also Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Elsewhere, there's the "social networking smartphone," the C7, which includes a 3.5-inch AMOLED display and integration with various social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter. Finally, there's the "small and stylish smartphone," the C6, which has a 3.2-inch AMOLED display, Nokia ClearBack and various social networking and entertainment features in a smaller form factor.
Nokia expects the phones to carry price tags ranging from 260 to 495 Euros, and ship by the end of the year, with no word on exact availability for Europe or aborad.
At first glance, say analysts, the phones appear to be nice updates for Nokia's existing line but will likely do little to sway consumers already entranced by Apple's iPhone and the small galaxy of top-shelf Android-based devices. Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Reuters Tuesday that while the products are a "clear improvement," "we know they are not where Nokia needs to be yet."
The company also unveiled a reworked interface for its Ovi Store and also an enhanced Nokia Qt Software Development Kit that Nokia says will mean a 70 percent reduction in the number of lines of code needed to develop on Symbian.
Nokia is in the midst of a dramatic executive restructuring that last week saw the ouster of CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in favor of Microsoft business division chief Stephen Elop, who will take over as CEO on Sept. 20. On Monday, Nokia mobile solutions chief Anssi Vanjoki also announced his resignation.
Nokia has made two profit warnings this year and its stock has declined more than 20 percent.