Thanks to the Industry Analyst Relations team for compiling and sharing this analyst feedback on Nokia's latest flagship product, the N8. The device is already being put under the microscope in this hyper-competitive environment, so this early input is extremely valuable to get a feeling of coming sentiment. Surprises are for birthdays.
Compiled by the Nokia IAR team:
Dear All,
Nokia Industry Analyst Relations briefed 30+ leading industry analysts in Europe and North America face-to-face over the last two weeks including a hands-on demonstration of the Nokia N8 and S^3. This is the summary of the key industry analyst feedback and recommendations to Nokia.
Positives:
-Pivotal device in Nokia's effort to make its high-end phones credible again.
-'Good foundation stone for Nokia as it tries to get back on its feet in the highly competitive high-end smartphone market.'
-Beautiful device, extremely elegant. Analysts applaud the design, overall look and feel and form factor.
-+++Amazing display, capacitive touch, high def video capture and playback a huge plus.
-Extremely feature rich and demonstrates all the things Nokia does well - fit and finish, core, battery life, camera.
-Performance VASTLY improved.
-Significant improvements in the UI. 'It's not quite where you need to be, but going in the right direction.'
-Excellent camera quality.
-'12 megapixels with Carl Zeiss optics - wow!' 'This is where you clearly beat Apple - they can't catch up with you on the camera side anytime soon.'
-Analysts also very impressed by the multitasking ability of N8 involving heavy computing (e.g. running simultaneously 2 email accounts, Twitter and FB with live streams, music player, Maps and video).
-Good move with implementing social client so that the users are in control.
-Web TV - 'this is where you can make big deals!'
-Very competitive and attractive price point.
-Compares favorably with many Android and Windows devices.
-'In all frankness, this is the first device from Nokia that I've seen for a while that I consider a lot more competitive. It's not on par with iPhone yet, but it will get you a lot closer.'
Concerns:
-Surprised that Nokia is announcing so far ahead of actual shipping date ('thought this would be something you would have learned not to do after N97').
-S^3 is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. UI still has much of a legacy feeling. It doesn't look 'fresh enough' - it still looks like Symbian.
-Nokia's biggest challenge will be to get users to pick up the phone and play with it, because the -UI looks just like the 'old' Symbian which so many users dislike. It is only by using the new OS that the improvements can be seen. 'Couldn't you at least have change the icons to make it a bit 'different??'.
-S^3 UX might not be enough to get you on par with the iPhone - that brings more and very high expectations for S^4.
-The delay (3Q instead of 2Q) gives Apple and Android camps more time to develop their OSs, solidifying their positions in high-end.
-With the binary break from S^3 to S^4 - how are you going to position N8 and S^3 platform to developers. Qt will clearly be key here and needs to be evangelized.
-You still don't have enough focus on US. You should launch a device like this first in the US because that's where the buzz and innovation in mobile currently is.
Recommendations:
-Continue UI improvements urgently, competition will not stand still while you catch up.
-Going forward you also need extreme attention to detail in UI. You need to be super-consistent (number of clicks etc.).
-With N8, pick a right angle when you market/position this to consumers. It is critical that you differentiate from all the smartphones out there.
-HDMI is such a cool feature that you need to sell it proactively to consumers. Offer concrete use cases and drive it in explicitly.
-With respect to the social client, disappointing that you have not signed up more partners. You should have at least 10 at launch. Talk more about how your social client implementation puts you in control of your social networking contacts.
-'Really, really hope you'll get this in with a major US carrier.'
-After the N97 fiasco (which did serious damage to your brand), it is crucial that the quality of the N8 does not disappoint. With N97 you over promised and under delivered. Don't make that mistake again.
