Nokia who is struggling to get a foothold in the Australian Smartphone market is set to start shipping their N8 smartphone which is powered by the Symbian operating system that was recently dropped by both Samsung and Sony Eriksson.
According to sources at both Optus and Telstra Nokia is set to struggle up against new offerings from Android phone makers as well as the roll out of a multimillion dollar marketing campaign by Microsoft for the new Windows Phone 7 operating system which is set to be incorporated into new Smartphones released by LG, Samsung and HTC.
“It will be very hard or Nokia to get traction especially as consumers have four other high profile choices from Apple, Blackberry, Google with their Android Smartphones and the new Windows OS. We believe that some carriers will range the phone but I am not convinced it will sell. It may do well in the Nokia replacement market with people who are still loyal to the Nokia brand” said a Telstra executive who did not want to go on the record.
Nokia, who is banking on the N8 claims that the new phone runs on an improved version of its key Symbian software platform which they are relying on in an effort to fight against rival smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and devices based on Google’s Android OS.
However, the launch has been dogged by delays to the development of the Symbian 3 upgrade used in the phone as well as last week’s unexplained problems.
The Wall Street Journal said that management upheaval at the company threatened to overshadow its recent Nokia World event in London, meant to showcase the N8 and the improvements to Symbian.
Nokia said it had decided to hold the N8 shipments for some time to make some final changes, spokeswoman Maija Taimi said. The Nokia N8 will reach most of the company’s main markets such as Australia over the next few weeks, she said.
The N8 comes with a 12-megapixel camera and high-definition video capabilities. The phone will be priced at around $799 in Australia.
