Nokia Online Store Ready To Compete With Apple
Nokia said it is ready to directly compete with Apple’s App store by providing a wider and more tailored offering of media and software for its phones once its Ovi online store opens in May, Reuters reported.
Boasting more than 500 million applications downloaded in only half a year, the Apple store has proved that the market for software supermarkets in the mobile world is a profitable one.
However, Nokia has a potentially bigger market than Apple.
When it opens, the Ovi store will reach some 50 million consumers, while Apple has so far sold less than 20 million iPhones.
Still, Nokia has yet to match Apple’s success in getting people to pay for software downloads, despite its smaller rival getting a later start. Nokia has fallen behind in producing touch-screen phones.
If consumers agree to pay by credit card, Nokia said it would give 70 percent of all download revenue to developers, just like Apple. But developers will earn less per transaction if consumers opt to pay through their operators.
Marco Argenti, vice president of media at Nokia, said because of geographic coverage, credit cards would probably remain the main payment method.
"It’s going to be the default payment system across the world. (But) in nine countries … developers can activate operator payments," he said.
Nokia’s own data from the usage of its N-gage gaming service shows that more than 80 percent of customers use operator billing in cases where consumers can choose between paying via their operator or using a credit card.
Analysts say it is important for Nokia to get its online store right, given the size of the market.
The value of the mobile content market is expected to grow 18 percent to $67 billion this year, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The market includes downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, video, mobile TV, text alerts and mobile web browsing.
However, other competitors have also announced online stores, including Microsoft, Orange and several others.
Ford Davidson, chief executive of Seattle-based Dashwire, which makes software for linking cellphone content to the Web, said these companies are really entering an “arms race”.
"Nokia is the dark horse in this race. They have an unparalleled distribution channel," Davidson said.
Nokia is looking to better attract developers by offering a more liberal and faster approval process for reaching the store, and it aims to lure consumers by creating a personalized offering, Argenti said.
The company noted that within a week it would decide on publishing submitted applications or content, and it will also approve content from developers that go head to head with its own software offering.
"The store takes into consideration your location, your habits and your connected people’s habits, and your purchasing habits, showing the most relevant content to you," Argenti told Reuters.
"The recommendation side is missing from the others."
For developers and consumers, the rush by companies to open software stores will mean a rise in the number of applications using different, and non-compatible, software platforms.
Nokia will continue with its Symbian operating system, but will also use software based on Microsoft Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry and Google Android platforms.
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