In this post, we talk about mobile phone brands that fell off their perch. It takes 5 to 7 impressions for people to remember a brand ~ smallbizgenius. Branding is the act of connecting a product (or business) with a particular name, symbol, or features and ideas to make it recognizable. Customers buy brands they trust. I mean, why would you spend on something you don’t trust will last or do well what you intend to use it for? When it comes to phones, some companies have built very good reputations for themselves.
For instance, apple phones guarantee security, it is very hard to hack into apple phones compared to other phones. Apple phones also generally have better cameras than other phones. On the other hand, we could have a phone like a Tecno or itel. These two phone brands are very common in Uganda. Why? Well, tecnos and itels are very cheap. Almost anyone can buy and own them.
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Contents
Mobile phone brands that fell off their perch
a) Nokia
I have been a very loyal fan of Nokia phones. In fact, the very first phone I owned was a Nokia. Nokia used to make very nice phones. But then it sold its business to Microsoft in 2013. How did Nokia fall off its perch? By selling its business to Microsoft. Microsoft Lumias were made afterward. The Lumias were not so much very nice to use. The user interface was nice though with its attractive colors and tiled icons. What was an issue was the user experience. Not everyone enjoyed using the Windows OS on their phones. Then their was the issue with the App Store. It had few apps. Android has lots of apps. All in all, these issues drove customers away and Nokia fell off their perch. But that is not the end yet. Nokia bought back its business in 2016 and is trying to rejuvenate its reputation.
b) Siemens
There was once a time when Siemens phones were a must-have. But then competition got stiff and they closed the business of making smartphones in 2005.
c) Ericsson
Ericsson Mobile was a subsidiary of Stockholm-based Ericsson with offices in different parts of Sweden and the US. As of 2000, it was the third-largest mobile phone seller with an 11 percent market share, trailing Nokia and Motorola.
It began suffering losses due to supply chain problems and a fire at a Philips factory in 2000 that caused delays during the launch of the company’s new products. To minimize losses and counterbalance its supply chain, Ericsson entered into a partnership with Sony in 2001.
However, in 2011, it sold its 50 percent stake in the joint venture to Sony for $1.2bn, making the mobile handset business a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese company.
d) Motorola
In 2000, Motorola was the second highest-selling phone manufacturer after Nokia. It sold more than 130 million units of its Razr line-up by 2005.
However, the company lost its market share to emerging manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, and LG. Its market share dropped to 6 percent in 2009, from 23 percent in 2006.
e) Microsoft
Introduced in 2011, Microsoft Lumia phones were originally designed and marketed by Nokia. They ran on Microsoft’s own Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile operating systems that were not very popular among users.
The company stopped making Lumia phones as sales declined. The last Lumia smartphone, the Lumia 650, was launched in February 2016.
In 2017, Microsoft officially confirmed that it would no longer sell or manufacture new Windows 10 Mobile devices.