Target Market And Targeting Strategy Of Nokia

Introduction and Company Background

In the recent scenario, mobile internet plays a prominent role in attracting numerous media attention. It has done tremendous changes all over the world (Rajurkar & Shirsagar, 2017). The shares of the company Nokia have dropped to about 30%. The plunging trend of profit is of great concern to the company. To some extent, the company has managed to achieve increased growth as well as stability in the mobile phone industry (Ciesielska, 2018). But in the past scenario, the company has faced rigid competition from iPhone, Blackberry, and Google Android. It’s all about the applications nowadays which created to be the biggest problem for Nokia Mobiles (Laamanen, Lamberg & Vaara, 2016).

In the following context, there will be a detailed analysis of the area which greatly affected the Nokia for their success.

In 1985, the company Nokia has established their first branch company in Beijing and then cover all over the country. Nokia is the leader in the manufacturing industry of mobile phones as well as other communication technology in the world. The company Nokia was one of the world leaders in mobile telecommunication which drive the growth as well as sustainability of the broader mobility industry (Hashem et. al., 2015). Approximately 17 % of the individuals in the world are connected through the leading company Nokia every single day thereby providing their entitlement of “Connecting People.” the company was established in the year 1865 on the bank of the Nokiavirta River in Finland to create a variety of products which are different from the market. In 1992, the company decided to wholly engage as well as focus in the business of telecommunication. This happens when Jorma Ollila becomes CEO of Nokia and he finally chooses to concentrate on telecommunication industry. The company has earned $40 billion in their sale within 140 countries. The company has built their image in the global market as well as 55,000 employees are working under the company. Mainly four business groups are presented by the company which includes enterprise solutions, mobile telephones, multimedia, as well as networks (Bala, R., & Singh, 2016).

Nokia is a global company has a headquartered in Finland. The company engaged with 123,533 people at worldwide level as well as sell their mobiles in more than 160 countries. The major market for Nokia is China, UK, and India. In the year 2008-09, the market share of Nokia has increased in China but decrease in India as well as in the UK (Vuori & Huy, 2016).

In the year 2007, 50% of the set sale of Nokia was from Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, as well as Europe in which the company cover share of 20% in the market of China, 10% in the market of North America, 10% in Latin America. The United Arab Emirates, China, Brazil, US, UK, Germany, Russia, Spain, Australia as well as Italy was the largest market of Nokia. They represent 65% of the total sale altogether. By the end of 2007, the global subscription of Nokia was increased to approximately 2 billion. The customers of Australia mainly prefer smartphones. Therefore, the company slightly face challenging than anticipated (Lamberg, Laukia & Ojala, 2014).

• The country Australia has a strong economic growth rate. It is higher than in most of the OCED countries which include the US and UK. In the present, the GDP of the country is higher than UK, France, as well as Germany. There is a low degree of risk in the economy of Australia while it boats consistently strong GDP growth, rising exchange rates, stable interest rate as well as low rate of inflation. This could be a positive sign for Nokia to enter in such market (Danov, 2016).
• The country Australia is an essential market for MNCs situated in the region of Asia-Pacific. The country host a rising economy, a steady trade as well as positive political; environment. The main advantage to companies in a steady political environment can stream right through to the bottom line. It would help the company to easily make existence in the new market of Australia.
• Australia has introduced age discrimination as well as disability discrimination legislation. The country has also increased the minimum wages as well as the greater requirement for forms to recycle which affected the action of Nokia. The legal changes can affect the cost of Nokia as well as demand (Lane, 2017).

Social Analysis 

• In Australia, the demand of touchscreen with large display has increased considerably over the years.
• The people of Australia are very directive in the way they communicate. There is often an element of humor, self-deprecating in their speech.
• Due to the equitable distribution of income among Australian people, the purchasing power of them is increased which create an opportunity for the company to target maximum people in Australia.
• The increasing growth of population in the country also affects the demand for communication which would create an opportunity for the company to reposition their product in the market (Williams & Figueiredo, 2014).

• Australia is concentrating as well as investing in international science as well as technology association. The high exports of technology are increasing to $1.6 billion.
• The advancement in the technology from 2G to 4G is the main success for the mobile industry. Now the planning of 5G is in the pipeline which could also affect the demand of Nokia.
• The country is known for high growth in technology. Therefore, the company has already invested a huge amount in Research and technology which would help them to re-enter ineffective way with upgraded technology (Williams & Figueiredo, 2014).

Situation Analysis

Three major positives:

• The company has gained brand image in the market through which the customers feel comfortable at the time of using a product.
• Nokia has more than 33% market share in the industry as well as it has positioned as a fifth place in the world.
• It is a leading player in the mobile industry due to their strong brand name a well as innovated products line (Laamanen, Lamberg & Vaara, 2016).

Three major negatives:

• The game or facility released by Nokia N-Gage has failed in the market.
• The role of Nokia in Symbian has increased through the company has gained a bad image in the market.
• The company failed to catch the new technology as well as knowledge (Laamanen, Lamberg & Vaara, 2016).

Therefore, Nokia was one of the leading companies in the mobile industry established in Finland. In the present scenario, the company would not able to cope up from the challenges which they are facing.

Competitor Analysis 

The level of competition is considered as high since it is a mature market with many players as well as the growth rate is moderate which represent that the players will take the market share from their competitors if their revenue or income grows. These companies have entered the market after Nokia. But they had attracted maximum customers with their advanced technology. The Android operating system is mostly used by their rivals.

 The android is an operating system which permits the operators to use a large number of applications in a comparison to Symbian which is used by Nokia. The operating system of RIM, as well as I-phone, has also taken the market of Nokia. The company needs to re-enter in the market with an upgraded operating system which would help the company to compete in the competitive market to reposition them in the market (Van Alstyne, Parker & Choudary, 2016).

Key Players

The top competitors of Nokia in a mobile device are RIM, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG whereas in smartphones, the company face rivalry from the leading companies Apple as well as RIM. The analysis of major players indicates that the leading company Samsung hold the highest market share and it is followed by Nokia with 22.5 % market share. In the year 2010, Nokia shows declining market share whereas the market share of Samsung increases in the top market of Nokia.  The market share of RIM also went up while the market share of Sony Ericsson declined in value.

Apple is an indirect competitor which highly focused on providing innovative electronics products to their customers as well as they hold the market share of 9.5 %.

Samsung is one of the direct competitors which have been offered a wide range of smartphones with their improved version. It is one of the leading companies with a market share of 25.4 %.

Other Players such as Sony Ericsson, LG, as well as RIM has covered the remaining market share which is 42.6%. They mainly adopted the Android operating system which helps them to survive in the market (Giachetti & Marchi, 2017).

Competitive Market

Competitor	Market share	Product or service description and features	Strength/ Weakness	Marketing strategy	Aggressiveness (high, low, medium)	Threat level (high, low, medium)
Apple	9.5%	Use IOS operating System	Strong Premium Brand/ Expensive	· Price: High · Place: Own outlets, Online, and Retail stores · Promotion: TV ads, online marketing, banners · Target Market: High discretionary Income	High	High
Samsung	22.5 %	Offered a wide range of smartphones	Leading player in the market	· Price: Medium to High · Place: Retail store, Own Outlets as well as Online store · Promotion: Social Media, TV ads, print ads · Target Market: customers with low to high level of income	High	High
Sony Ericsson	5.1 %	Mobile phones, Music device. Wireless voice device	Good quality/ Low brand reorganization in the mobile industry	· Price: Medium · Place: retail stores, Outlets · Promotion: TV ads, Social Media, Newspaper · Target Market: customers with a medium level of income	Medium	Low

Consumer Analysis 

The company mainly target the youth market that is falling between the ages of 13-19. The research has been conducted by Nokia in which it shows that youths are receiving pocket money as well as they do not have any commitments to spend their money. Therefore, it would be easy for the consumer to purchase the phone from their pocket money. Between the ages of 19-39 are also the targets of Nokia who are looking for entertainment (Olaleye, Salo, Sanusi & Okunoye, 2018).

Strength	Weakness
· Global Brand Image · Experienced local partner · Strong research and development teams · History of successful products as well as technologies · Partnership with Microsoft Office · Presence across 150 countries	· Weak building of a brand · Limited variety of products · Difficult in localization · Mobile of Windows is no longer competitive · Organizational bureaucracy · Declining Market Share
Opportunity	Threat
· Growing Demand for Telecommunication · Constant Innovation · Growing market for smartphones · The huge loyal consumer base	· Changing in an industry rapidly · Threat of entry from new players such as Google. · Threat of existing competitors · Unique customer needs · Prohibition of Subsidy

Specific	· Re-entrance in the market with a new model of smartphone · Establish a raw competitive advantage over rivals · Reenergize Brand
Measurable	Nokia has an objective to satisfy 85% of the consumer in the market with innovative product as well as try to reenergize the brand up to 75%.
Attainable	The Department of Research and Development, as well as staff, agreed that increased sale by 40% would help Nokia to achieve 80% of the target objective
Realistic	In recent, the economic condition of Australia is favorable that increase the purchasing power of the public. It helps Nokia to increase their production of a product.
Time	The objective of the company would be achieved in 1 year which is sufficient to meet the requirement of establishing a deadline to meet the objective of Nokia.

• The re-entrance of Nokia in the market of Australia will help to gain the confidence among the consumers as well help the company to spread their roots to maximize share in the market within one year.
• Establishing a raw competitive advantage over rivals would help the company to earn a maximum profit as well as able to target maximum customers.

Reference List 

Bala, R., & Singh, D. P. (2016). Nokia: It’s not over yet, A Come Back in 2016. International Journal of Management, IT and Engineering, 6(2), 222-234.

Ciesielska, M. (2018). Nokia on the slope: The failure of a hybrid open/closed source model. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 19(3), 218-225.

Danov, M. (2016). Global competition law framework: A private international law solution needed. Journal of Private International Law, 12(1), 77-105.

Giachetti, C., & Marchi, G. (2017). Successive changes in leadership in the worldwide mobile phone industry: The role of windows of opportunity and firms’ competitive action. Research Policy, 46(2), 352-364.

Hashem, I. A. T., Yaqoob, I., Anuar, N. B., Mokhtar, S., Gani, A., & Khan, S. U. (2015). The rise of “big data” on cloud computing: Review and open research issues. Information systems, 47, 98-115.

Laamanen, T., Lamberg, J. A., & Vaara, E. (2016). Explanations of success and failure in management learning: What can we learn from Nokia’s rise and fall?. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(1), 2-25.

Lamberg, J. A., Laukia, A., & Ojala, J. (2014). The anatomy and causal structure of a corporate myth: Nokia by the book. Management & Organizational History, 9(3), 235-255.

Lane, J. E. (2017). Opportunistic Behaviour. Applied Economics and Finance, 4(4), 1-16.

Olaleye, S. A., Salo, J., Sanusi, I. T., & Okunoye, A. O. (2018). Retailing Mobile App Usefulness: Customer Perception of Performance, Trust and Tension Free. International Journal of E-Services and Mobile Applications (IJESMA), 10(4), 1-17.

Rajurkar, N., & Shirsagar, P. (2017). Impact of smartphones on society. International Journal of Research in Science & Engineering, 3(2), 143-150.

Van Alstyne, M. W., Parker, G. G., & Choudary, S. P. (2016). Pipelines, platforms, and the new rules of strategy. Harvard business review, 94(4), 54-62.

Vuori, T. O., & Huy, Q. N. (2016). Distributed attention and shared emotions in the innovation process: How Nokia lost the smartphone battle. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(1), 9-51.

Williams, B., & Figueiredo, J. (2014). Lessons from an innovation-leader and tools to learn them. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 7(4), 932-960.