Music phones, those dinky little devices, will be the in-thing in the coming years, and handset manufacturers appear to laying the groundwork to cash in on the expected demand. Nokia, the world’s last largest handset maker, has decided it wants to be a "global leader in mobile music experiences." To that end, the company has been sliding into place a number of key building blocks to turn that wish into a reality, says ABI Research, a technology and market research firm. Music capability has become a key feature of nearly all of Nokia’s mid to high-tier mobile devices. In particular, the 6233, 6280 and the N-series have strong digital music functionality, it says.
However, according to ABI Research, for Nokia "to become a global leader in mobile music, Nokia needs to move onto the hallowed turf dominated by Apple’s iPod."Apple’s dominance of the portable music experience stems not just from the iPod’s functionality, ease of use, and cool design, but also its tight integration with the music delivery platform, iTunes. In many respects the iTunes brand is as robust and well appreciated as the iPod device.
Hence Nokia’s bold move to acquire Loudeye, a Seattle-based music delivery platform vendor, for $60 million. "But why the haste and the enthusiasm? You don’t have to wander into too many mobile phone stores to realise that 2006 is proving to be very kind to mobile device manufacturers. The third and fourth quarters always build on the first half of the year. ABI Research forecasts that handset shipments will clear one billion in 2006," the research firm says. "The Loudeye acquisition is intended to assist Nokia in strengthening its position in the music market’s premium, heavy duty user categories: consumers who typically purchase multi-purpose and dedicated music player mobile devices," it says. ABI Research estimates that these two categories will represent more than 125 million annual shipments by 2009. "Will Nokia succeed? It would be unwise to underestimate the market leader in mobile phones," ABI Research says.
Cellular modem
Meanwhile, the cellular modem market, which has taken many years to develop, now seems to have got some traction, and is expected to reach a notable milestone, with annual shipments to exceed five million units in 2006. What changed? "This market got a boost from embedded cellular modems in laptop computers, a class of modem only introduced toward the end of last year, the high-tech market research firm says. Embedded cellular modems should account for more than 10 per cent of total modem shipments in 2006," says In-Stat, a research firm.
However, according to ABI Research, for Nokia "to become a global leader in mobile music, Nokia needs to move onto the hallowed turf dominated by Apple’s iPod."Apple’s dominance of the portable music experience stems not just from the iPod’s functionality, ease of use, and cool design, but also its tight integration with the music delivery platform, iTunes. In many respects the iTunes brand is as robust and well appreciated as the iPod device.
Hence Nokia’s bold move to acquire Loudeye, a Seattle-based music delivery platform vendor, for $60 million. "But why the haste and the enthusiasm? You don’t have to wander into too many mobile phone stores to realise that 2006 is proving to be very kind to mobile device manufacturers. The third and fourth quarters always build on the first half of the year. ABI Research forecasts that handset shipments will clear one billion in 2006," the research firm says. "The Loudeye acquisition is intended to assist Nokia in strengthening its position in the music market’s premium, heavy duty user categories: consumers who typically purchase multi-purpose and dedicated music player mobile devices," it says. ABI Research estimates that these two categories will represent more than 125 million annual shipments by 2009. "Will Nokia succeed? It would be unwise to underestimate the market leader in mobile phones," ABI Research says.
Cellular modem
Meanwhile, the cellular modem market, which has taken many years to develop, now seems to have got some traction, and is expected to reach a notable milestone, with annual shipments to exceed five million units in 2006. What changed? "This market got a boost from embedded cellular modems in laptop computers, a class of modem only introduced toward the end of last year, the high-tech market research firm says. Embedded cellular modems should account for more than 10 per cent of total modem shipments in 2006," says In-Stat, a research firm.