Nokia, We are in a hurry to catch up

Finnish handset major Nokia is banking on a slew of product launches across a wide price band in a bid to regain its lost market share in the smartphone category. Nokia executives say the company is in a "hurry to catch up" with giants such as Apple and Samsung who currently consume a majority of the market. 

In an interview with TOI at the launch of the new Nokia Lumia 920, director & head of smart devices at Nokia, Vipul Mehrotra, talks about the company's strategy to win back its market share through the new launches. Excerpts: 

Q: Nokia posted losses in six consecutive quarters until October 2012. How do intend to change that? 

A: We are in the race and are accelerating our own clock cycles. Launching three handsets at a time is a proof point that we need to catch up in hurry. We will be working towards offering phones across price points. We did not have a flagship model in Lumia earlier. With the new Lumia 920, we have one. Of course it is not a mass market phone but then the new launches are intended to regain the smartphone share in the market. 

Q: The Lumia phones have not managed to gain the desired consumer base. Where do you think you went wrong? 

A: As I said, one, we had no flagship product to show to the consumers that we had a leader in the category. Also we needed to build up on the OS. The transition took us time but it has started now. 

Q: Nokia has been more focused on the entry to mid level price range. Nokia Asha phones have performed exceptionally well. With the launch of Lumia 920, are you announcing an entry into high-end smartphones? 

A: We are targeting a range of prices in our products. We are also aiming at having more products on the shelf, as there are a lot of options in the market today. Last year we introduced the Lumia category, which was a big step for us. With these launches, we are taking a huge stride again. High-end smartphones work on innovation. Asha phones have surpassed our expectations and they are in the highest growth segment. Now, we will focus on far more innovation in Lumia. Besides traditional forms of marketing, we will concentrate on experiential marketing for Lumia. Smartphones are not a game of width but of depth. We will intensify focus on those outlets that are doing well for us on experiential marketing.