Failing to gain headway on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is said be shifting its focus towards Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) or “Blackberry”; Nokia is betting on its relationship with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to gain an edge over a “weaker” rival.
The latest two smartphones by the Finnish company run on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s operating system and come with Excel, Word and Powerpoint. While BlackBerry fights for the top three positions in the market, Nokia aims to gain a headway on the weaker rival by introducing their newest Lumia phones that the company expects to surpass BlackBerry this year.
“The importance of winning the business audience on a scale of 1 to 10 is easily an 11,” said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at research firm IDC in Boston.
With Samsung standing at top in the Android powered smartphone market and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) being the leader with its own OS, gaining a strong hold on the market seems a bit crucial for Nokia Oyj. However, introducing features that cater to the needs of business sector, Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) feels confident that this year would mark the Finnish company as the most used smartphone in the business segment.
Nokia Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop, who joined from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in 2010, when asked whether he’d be interested in buying Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), said “I’m interested in their customers.” The CEO found it the perfect moment to go after that marketplace.
It is important to highlight that BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), still has a strong grasp over the business segment in Wall Street and Washington.
“It’s not surprising that competitors are scrambling to get into the enterprise,” said David J. Smith, BBRY’s executive vice president for mobile computing.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) as well as Blackberry shares have slid 90 percent over the past 5 years as consumers switched to the iOS and Android operating systems
Shares of Nokia Oyj (HEL:NOK1V) were steady at $2.72, while shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) went down by 0.15 percent to close at $13.46.