Disqus
Nokia used to make their own IC’s (integrated circuits), until today that is. They’ve announced that in order to remain cost competitive a new licensing and outsourcing model will be used. In the PC industry we call this becoming a fabless company. Nokia will design the chips and then tell one of their 4 partners to make millions of them. Approximately 200 employees spread out over the UK and Finland will be transfered in the fourth quarter of this year. STMicroelectronics will be making Nokia’s 3G modems, they just scored a seriously large deal.
Is this a good thing or not? Hard to tell at this point, but this one line in the press release tells a revealing story:
“This licensing and multisourcing strategy will allow Nokia to broaden its pool of chipset suppliers and leverage external innovation to support its wide range of products. It will also allow Nokia to focus on its core competence in modem technology and invest in R&D areas besides radio technology, such as in software to power internet services.”
Nokia is growing up. They’re starting to notice that selling a handset isn’t about the handset anymore, it is about the complete experience surrounding it. There is only so much you can do to wow a consumer by increasing the specifications, you need to deliver a compelling user interface and integration into online services that a user may or may not currently be using.
When OPK said he wanted to make Nokia an Internet company, every Nokia employee I knew just shrugged their shoulders and said they have no idea what that meant.
The picture is starting to become a little more clear.
Update: I forgot to mention that I did see S60 being demoed on STMicroelectronics development boards at the S60 summit this year. They were showing off the Nomadik platform.
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
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Tazzy
