Nokia drops content work to refocus on handsets

by Ben Carter, Marketing 27-Oct-04

Nokia is withdrawing from the mobile content market and refocusing Club Nokia as the umbrella brand for its warranty and guarantee business.

The mobile handset company had offered a range of mobile content such as games, ringtones and wallpaper both on a free and charged basis through Club Nokia.

According to a Nokia UK spokesman, it has now decided to focus on handset manufacturing and will leave the provision of mobile content to the operators through their individual branded services, such as Vodafone Live!, T-Zones, Orange World and O2 Active.

'We have decided to leave content up to the operators, as they have their own services and revenue models,' said the spokesman.

The Finnish firm had also offered content in return for customer details and membership of Club Nokia, which the company has tried to establish as its global loyalty scheme.

Nokia will endeavour to make consumers aware that they can resolve all guarantee and warranty issues through Club Nokia, and will continue to promote the brand as a customer loyalty venture.

Nokia sales rose slightly year on year to 6.9m euros (£4.8m) in the third quarter, but its market share shrank to 29.7% from 35.6%.