Nokia, its strategies and its wrong Marketing Mix in the case of the N-Gage

Résumé du document

When approaching this assignment, the second topic offered attracted us by its novelty and the challenges it represents. We wanted to study a successful and well known company that was constantly looking for new markets and offering new variants of known devices, to find out what constitutes a wrong Marketing-mix for a global company promoting global products. Nokia seemed to be the unanimous choice as the example of the famous "N-Gage" stroked our mind and was linked with the word "failure". The N-Gage began as a concept when Nokia noticed that more gamers were carrying a Nintendo Game-Boy and a cell phone simultaneously. In order to argue why the giant mobile phone manufacturer failed to produce a successful multi-purpose device encompassing the portable gaming-console and the phone's function, we decided to contrast it with the success of the model called the "N-70".

Extraits

[...] Conclusion N-Gage's obituary has already been written” said George Harrisson from Nintendo, only 2 weeks after the launch of the Gage. First of all, is is obvious to remind that Nokia means “mobile phones” to consumers and when the Finnish firm decided to tap into the game market, it was subject to confusion and didn't make any sens to people. Therefore, the N-Gage is seen as a mismatch with the Finnish brand and gives a split personality to the giant manufacturer. [...]

[...] Inconvenience of the buttons & battery E. The world's most valuable brands (1999-2001) (Source: Kelly, 2003) F. Perceived value of the Nokia's products G. The space conflict between the game and the H. I. The N-Gage QD K. N-Gage QD Game conflict fixed J. The N-Gage QD Silver Edition H. [...]

[...] Thirdly, announced in August 2005, the N-Gage QD Silver Edition[18], which has no differences with the QD apart from cosmetic changes, can be seen as a strategy to extend the life of the N-Gage product range. Antti Vasara[19] “N-Gage is still being sold but it was not a success in the sense of developing a new category” Today, the N-Gage is in its decline phase. In November 2005, the Finland Company announced its intention to discontinue its combination cell phone/gaming device. [...]

[...] That's just basic business school knowledge” The N-Gage game card system has been heavily criticized and is one of the most important failures of the product: it requires gamers to remove the back of the device and pull out the battery to swap in a game card[14]. In addition to that, the format of the N-Gage cartridges is also somewhat fragile, which may lead to some deterioration. Moreover, in comparison to the Game Boy and its 500 games title, only 16 games were available for the N–gage 5 months after its release date. The N-70 offers messaging applications and supports emails with attachments. Moreover, picture quality remains good for both still and video captures. [...]

[...] In other words, the Finnish firm pricing strategy depends on the royalties it pays to its supplier to use its patent. Nokia complains that the American company overtaxes its patent. As a consequence the contract, which ends in 2007, will be a major challenge on Nokia's future sell, especially products using Qualcomm's technology such as the N-70. Competitors were not a factor that could affect the Nokia strategy for pricing but in contrary the company strategy was to shun pricing wars as much as possible with those kinds of products. [...]