RSSNokia CEO: The Internet is the Future
By Ed Oswald | Published November 29, 2006, 12:48 PM
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told attendees of the Nokia World 2006 Conference that Internet functionality will be the driving force in the next phase of mobile phone industry growth.
Kallasvuo also dismissed speculation by some industry analysts that the market is mature, and said the Internet would provide new avenues for growth in the industry. He said that Nokia's intended to be "at the forefront of this new era."
Growth in the wireless phone market continues to outpace predictions, and the three billion mobile subscriber milestone will be reached sometime next year. By 2010, that number will increase to four billion, Nokia said at the conference.
Most of this growth is expected to come from the Asia-Pacific region, where penetration in large countries such as China and India remain relatively low. In some developing markets, the phone is the consumer's primary access point to the Internet.
In fact, at the conference the company introduced the Nokia 2626 handset, which includes GPRS data and e-mail access. It is also the company's first entry-level "fashion phone," underscoring demand in new markets for more style-conscious electronics.
"The Internet has transformed the way we live our lives and communicate with each other, and we expect it to play a key role in the next phase of Nokia's growth," Kallasvuo said. "The next wave of the Internet will be to make it truly mobile, creating new ways for people to connect to others and find information from wherever they are."
Nokia believes that navigation services, mobile television, and multimedia will continue to play a role. The company is not only seeing demand for phones with these services in developing markets, but in established ones as well, leading to a strong replacement market.
In fact, 65 percent of phones purchased this year would fall into that category, rising to 80 percent by the end of the decade.
I heard these kind of statements before during the e-commerce boom, and we all know what happened in 2000.
For Internet to explode again, we need really cool applications (and not YouTube) that will make people buy new and better equipment. Intel and AMD tried to do just that with just 1% success rate. OEMs such as Dell, IBM, Lenovo, Gateway, etc... make boring looking PCs filled with "Dull" software and spy ware to help the user with "public privacy." So, do we expect an Internet boom with current corporate mentality? Don't rely on conventional OEMs to invent new gizmos.
I'm an optimist, and I do think that Internet can have a 2nd come back. But we need bold, imaginative, brave and wealthy people to start the "cyber evolution." If Nokia wants to be part of this, I'll buy and use their product. Anybody else wants to step forward?
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|Wow, this is a vision. Only like 10+ years after BG saw it and took out Netscape
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|Oh snap...the "intarnet" is the future.
Talk about a futurist. Wait a second...this all came to pass in 1996!!! OMFG!!! BBQ!!!
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|I predict this "internet" will completely go away in a month or two.
Hollywood says: "Electricity is the future" - Mark my words, someday we will all have this.
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|--if the internet is still in the future, then maybe Nokia is in the past.
He is saying this in reference to mobile phone technology, of course, making it a little more relavant, but even current mobile phones use the internet or are capable of using the internet for some things, so he is still a little behind...
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|The internet is the future? Hah! I'm sure it's just a fad, and will be long gone and forgotten in a year or two :)
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|what is this "internet" you speak of ??
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|I heard some Al Gore invented it a while back :)
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|Yeah, I think he used those things you get to pamper your hamster, I think they go by the brand name Habitrail.
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|Yea, just like Mugatu invented the piano key necktie!
As for this internet-thingy, I think we'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. I'm not convinced anyone gives a rip. I mean, I don't know anyone who uses it...
Next thing you know there will be electronic porn all over the place and Dateline will be trying to catch child predators using this so called internet. Oh the humanity!
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