So finally some Chinese heat is being felt even in the cold northernmost parts of our globe! Nokia- the world market leader from Finland, seems to be getting a beating at both the high end and the low cost end of the mobile market.

While on one side we have Steve Jobs Apple, the Korean duo of Samsung and LG, Google’s Phone and Android System and RIM’s Blackberry eating into it’s smartphone market, on the other hand we have cheap Chinese (and Indian) manufacturers eating into the lower end of the market.

Is the market leader about to see an erosion of it’s brand value? Are we going to see yet another giant bite the dust?

What does Nokia have up it’s sleeve? How will it counter the Chinese baby dragons that want to spread their wings…..or the Indian tiger cubs like Micromax, Maxx, Karbonn, Lemon and Spice….that seem all ready to spoil it’s party? Does the northern bear have it to take on both the dragon and the tiger?

Only time will tell….(I hope not too soon…. I am off to buy my Nokia E72)

Question for BM Students:

1. What is market share?(2 Marks)

2. What is a brand? (2 Marks)

3. How does a brand help a company? (4 Marks)

4. From this article calculate the total value of the worldwide handset market? (4 Marks)

5. How can Nokia counter it’s low cost competitors (use the BCG or Ansoff Matrix)? (6 Marks)