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Technology Stocks : Nokia (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter J Hudson who wrote (2716)	11/13/1999 8:15:00 AM
From: tero kuittinen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 34857

That's a good question. I guess much depends on how big the smartphone market in USA is and what is the 3G launch schedule in North America. I haven't seen any of the US mobile operators commit to 3G yet. Just like they haven't committed to 2.5G. People will probably take this the wrong way again, which is sad... but there is genuine concern about how much American consumers are interested in smartphones right now. The response to Neopoint and pdQ seems muted. Sprint is not revealing how many people are signing up for its wireless internet program. Most of the other operators seem to be dragging their feet in implementing and advertizing even simple data services. And I'm talking about a measurable impact on mobile operations revenue, BTW. A real revenue impact from mobile data is what matters - and that's already evident in the European and Asian leaders. Having some showcase mobile data program is worse than useless if 98% of the mobile traffic revenue still comes from voice. The situation is different in the European and Asian markets, where operators are buying 2.5G gear, committing to 3G and even starting to lock in the dates for 3G launches. The interest in WAP in Europe is phenomenal - but most American consumers haven't even heard of it. The number and variety of text-based mobile services in America is relatively limited. Of course this can change, but the kind of groundswell that's happening in Europe isn't evident yet. Internet is already so widespread and popular in USA that there simply may not be as much demand for M-commerce, for example. Bux - I respect your opinion on Thin Phone sales. But the only real way to judge the appeal of mobile phones is to look at the handset division profit margin. That's the only objective way to measure genuine demand. Margins close to zero = you have to bribe the consumers to buy your phones. Margins above 20% = there is a genuine premium consumers are willing to pay for your products. If you think that the Q division will be a gift from heaven to some other manufacturer, that's fine. But I don't think you can wrap a pig in spandex and pass it off as Christina Aguileira. That's not how brand management works. Tero