Nokia unveiled the technical specifications of its new netbook, the Booklet 3G, at the Nokia World conference last week. Aside from a few grumbles about the choice of operating system (OS) and the lack of certain features and technical capabilities, I reckon the product is on a par with a host of laptops and netbooks produced by the likes of Dell, HP and Acer.
And that’s probably why it won’t be a runaway success for Nokia.
Sure, the Booklet 3G comes with the shiny new Windows 7 OS from Microsoft and offers the opportunity to connect to WiFi as well as cellular 3G networks. It also includes a nifty location-sensing package which, when used in conjunction with Nokia’s maps services and applications, could prove to be very useful to business users continually on the move.
But, as I’ve said, many other manufacturers also offer similar devices and – crucially – at much lower prices.
The Booklet 3G is priced at around EUR575, or approximately US$810. Comparable devices from other vendors tend to be at least a third cheaper and are increasingly being offered for ‘free’ or at heavily discounted prices by network operators or service providers. Carriers can achieve modest profit margins if the wholesale price of the device is low enough, but how far will Nokia need to cut wholesale prices in order to stimulate interest from the carriers and will there be enough profit to share around?
The netbook is going to be marketed primarily as a lifestyle device, meaning that Nokia will be actively encouraging users to access the Internet, download/upload rich media content (such as video and music), access navigational and location-based data, etc. All of this should interwork with Nokia’s growing Ovi store of content and applications. Which is fine, and underlines Juniper Research’s belief that demand for rich media content, services, and applications will continue to grow, even in these uncertain economic times.
But users may find it difficult to make full use of the device’s capabilities. These rich media applications and services are bandwidth-hungry, but such bandwidth is not always available on demand, especially as ageing networks slow down as more mobile data users switch on.
Recently, AT&T in the US reported network slowdowns due to the large numbers of iPhone users trying to get online and rivals such as Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA have been working hard to ensure that their networks can also support rapidly rising demand for broadband services by users of BlackBerries and Android phones, etc. In response, Verizon is poised to unleash its LTE network next year, as are several other US carriers. But finances are tight and rollout may be slower than expected.
But in the meantime, as carriers continue to bundle laptops, netbooks and other mobile Internet devices in order to keep subscriber growth moving upwards, network congestion is likely to continue and customers may not be persuaded to shell out for an overly expensive data-hungry device that neither delivers the full mobile broadband experience nor represents a real step forward from what’s already available elsewhere.
Tags: 3.5G, 3G, 4G, Acer, Android, AT&T, BlackBerry, Booklet 3G, Dell, HP, iPhone, laptop, long term evolution, LTE, Microsoft, mobile broadband, mobile computing, mobile Internet device, mobile location services, netbook, Nokia, operating system, OS, Ovi, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, WiFi, Windows 7
[...] Nokia’s 3G Booklet: Missed Opportunity? | AnalystXpress – the … – Nokia unveiled the technical specifications of its new netbook, the Booklet 3G, at the Nokia World conference last week. Aside from a few grumbles about the. [...]