Three Reasons Nokia Isn't Attracting More Mobile Developers
One would think that laying claim to the largest share of the world's smartphone market would attract the most high-quality mobile software developers, but that doesn't seem to be the case for Nokia (NOK). The Finnish phone giant's market share stands at 44.3 percent, research firm Gartner's (IT) latest data show, yet according to a recent Bloomberg piece, programmers appear intent on building apps for smaller, competing platforms. The challenge Nokia has faced and will continue to face can be boiled down to three things:
Negative momentum: Commenters are always quick to remind me of Nokia's No. 1 position in terms of smartphone market share, and rightly so. But such numbers are a snapshot in time—far more important to developers is momentum. They watch to see how fast or slow a platform is gaining or losing acceptance. In the case of Nokia, there's been momentum over the past three years, just not the good kind. Our infographic on mobile platform share from 2007-2009 highlights the problem—Nokia's share of the market has waned (as did Microsoft's (MSFT) and general Linux phones) as those of Research In Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL), and Google (GOOG) have grown. In other words, developers see negative momentum with Nokia and are more likely to dedicate limited resources to its platform.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100615_408438.htm
Negative momentum: Commenters are always quick to remind me of Nokia's No. 1 position in terms of smartphone market share, and rightly so. But such numbers are a snapshot in time—far more important to developers is momentum. They watch to see how fast or slow a platform is gaining or losing acceptance. In the case of Nokia, there's been momentum over the past three years, just not the good kind. Our infographic on mobile platform share from 2007-2009 highlights the problem—Nokia's share of the market has waned (as did Microsoft's (MSFT) and general Linux phones) as those of Research In Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL), and Google (GOOG) have grown. In other words, developers see negative momentum with Nokia and are more likely to dedicate limited resources to its platform.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100615_408438.htm
