史蒂芬?埃洛普的不可能完成的任務
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????諾基亞（Nokia）首席執行官埃洛普重任在肩。這家芬蘭手機制造商在上周陷入了困境（周二，該公司發布了盈利預警，導致其股價大跌）。但盡管如此，新CEO近期依然趕赴南加州的諾基亞分部進行了視察，竭力推銷他的公司轉型計劃。 ????周四上午在圣地亞哥舉行的高通（Qualcomm）Uplinq會議上，埃洛普表示，蘋果（Apple）和谷歌（Google）之外，諾基亞與微軟（Microsoft）聯袂開發的操作系統仍有立足之地，三者將同臺競技。但是鑒于iPhone、Android手機日益流行，埃洛普規劃的宏偉藍圖可能會淪為一紙空文。為什么這么說呢？諾基亞與微軟合作開發的第一款手機將于今年晚些時候上市，但是，一切為時已晚，留給諾基亞的市場空間已經非常有限。而且，從未來的創新前景來看，不管是微軟還是諾基亞，都回天乏術。 ????埃洛普在Uplinq大會上對移動開發人員說：“在過去兩年里，市場發生了一些顯著的變化。市場競爭開始從硬件之爭轉向系統平臺之爭。”埃洛普此番言論是對《彭博商業周刊》（Bloomberg Businessweek）一篇評論文章的回應。該雜志在文章中將埃洛普描述為肩負重任的領袖，其任務是重振甚至重建諾基亞。諾基亞目前在芬蘭的地位和聲望與二十世紀八十年代的通用汽車（General Motors）不分伯仲——這個移動通訊巨擘現在正處于頂峰，也正因如此，它已不可否認地走上了下坡路。 ????然而，早在2007年，蘋果發布iPhone的時候，系統平臺之爭便已經開始。作為回應，谷歌推出了Android平臺，而當時，諾基亞卻把時間浪費在對Meego系統進行修修補補上。現在，Android已經大獲成功。但直到今年2月份，諾基亞才痛下決心，放棄其與芯片制造商英特爾（Intel）合作開發的Meego手機平臺，轉而把寶押到了微軟的Windows Phone系統上。至于雙方合作的成果如何，只有等到今年年底的時候才能見分曉了。 ????與此同時，數十萬的開發人員已經加入了Android陣營（只要去跟那些迫切希望招聘Android程序員的創業公司聊聊，你就明白其中的原因了）。埃洛普自己也承認，他們最大的競爭對手是谷歌，而不是宏達電（HTC）、三星（Samsung）等其他手機制造商。當然，在選擇與微軟/Windows Phone合作之前，埃洛普也曾考慮過與谷歌合作。但是，埃洛普周四表示，諾基亞最終得出的結論是，采用Android平臺，“將無法有效地保證諾基亞產品的獨特性”。 ????那么，Windows Phone系統能夠為諾基亞提供它所需要的獨特性，從而遏制谷歌和蘋果的發展勢頭嗎？這一點很值得懷疑，盡管答案要等到2013年才能揭曉。到時候，市場上會出現更多NokSoft手機產品。但預計Android平臺屆時將會變得更加普及，諾基亞面臨的競爭壓力也會更大。 ????即便是微軟即將發布的Windows Phone 8移動手機操作系統也無法解決諾基亞的問題。上周三，微軟提前展示了一款改進的操作系統，新系統控制界面的設計以觸摸屏為核心，可以兼容任何設備。或許，諾基亞可以借此推出一些創新型平板電腦。但這并不能解決它們面臨的最大問題：起步太晚。 ????埃洛普已經接過了重擔，但是，我們還看不出他將如何完成這個不可能完成的任務。 |
????Nokia chief executive officer Stephen Elop is a man on a mission. Despite the Finnish phonemaker's rough week (it issued a profit warning on Tuesday, which sent shares tumbling), the newish CEO recently made the rounds at a couple of confabs in Southern California to pitch his turnaround plan for the company. ????Speaking at Qualcomm's (QCOM) Uplinq conference in San Diego Thursday morning, Elop said there is room for a third ecosystem -- Nokia's (NOK) collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT) -- to compete with Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG). But the CEO's lofty plans to come up with a viable alternative to increasingly popular iPhones and Android devices may turn out to be just lofty plans. Why? With the first NokSoft device expected late this year, the company's current trajectory is already too little, too late. And no amount of future innovation on Microsoft or Nokia's part can turn back time. ????"What has happened over the last couple of years is there has been a shift from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems," Elop told an audience of mobile developers at the Uplinq conference. In that he's echoing a sentiment that comes across in a long Bloomberg Businessweek profile that paints Elop as a leader tasked with rallying yet rebuilding Finland's equivalent, in status and prominence, of 1980's era General Motors -- a monolith at the height of its powers, and thus in an undeniable decline. ????Well, that ecosystem war started way back in 2007, when Apple launched the iPhone. While Google responded with the now-wildly successful Android, Nokia wasted time tinkering with Meego, a mobile platform it collaborated on with chipmaker Intel (INTC). It took until February of this year for the Finnish phonemaker to decide to throw its weight behind Microsoft's Windows Phone. And it will take until end of this year to see what the fruits of that partnership will look like. ????In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of developers have jumped on the Android bandwagon (talk to any startup desperately looking to hire Android programmers and you'll see why). Even Elop admits that Google, not other phonemakers like HTC or Samsung, is his greatest competition. Of course, Nokia considered partnering with Android before it chose the Microsoft/Windows Phone route. But Elop said on Thursday that Nokia's final assessment was that "we would not be able to differentiate enough" on Android's platform. ????So will Windows Phone give Nokia the level of differentiation it needs to really make a dent in Google and Apple's growth? That's doubtful, though we won't know for sure until at least 2013, when more NokSoft devices launch. By that time, Android in particular is expected to be even more ubiquitous, making it even harder for Nokia to compete. ????Even Windows Phone 8, the upcoming version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, can't solve Nokia's problems. On Wednesday Microsoft unveiled a sneak peek at the revamped OS, a new, touch-centric interface that can work on any device and could help Nokia come out with some innovative tablets. But it doesn't solve the bigger problem facing both companies -- being late to the game. ????Elop is a man on a mission alright, but it's hard to see how it's not mission impossible. |
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