Convergence
of data, voice and video services will be the
key drivers of handheld communication devices,
primarily mobile phones, in the coming years, an
official from a phone manufacturer said
yesterday.
"We visualise the markets for mobile phone
manufacturers will hinge on a convergence of
services provided by a computer, the internet
and the phone," said Steve Lewis, Nokia's head
of sales for Middle East and Africa.
"And if you talk about the phone itself we see a
strong potential in social networking websites
being accessed by phone. An ability to check
where is one's contact based at a particular
point of time can draw customers."
Nokia shipped convergence devices worth $15.5
million (Dh57m) in the third quarter of 2008.
Though Nokia posted a reduction in net sales in
its third quarter results, its convergence
devices segment remained on an upswing.
Convergence services remain the prime platform
for competition between Nokia and relative
newcomers such as Apple's iPhone and BlackBerry.
Global markets reported sales of 46 million
convergence devices in 2005. Sales are expected
to more than quadruple in 2008 to about 180
million units. "We conducted a survey on the
usage of our N-Series phones," added Lewis. "The
feedback showed only 12 per cent of the phone's
usage is for voice services. The other 88 per
cent of usage is for several other services that
a convergence product offers. We see music and
games as areas of tremendous interest among
customers."
