Nokia Annual General Meeting 2009 highlights – competitors, new products, 5800 fever and more

HELSINKI, Finland – Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo laid out the vision for Nokia going forward at the Nokia Annual General Meeting 2009. It’s clear that this is going to be a year unlike any other, and promises to be extremely exciting for mobile users as well as Nokia as a whole.

Read on for highlights of OPK’s vision for Nokia on the road ahead, including news of collaborations with competitors, taking smartphone talents into new product categories, Nokia’s aim to offer you irresistible solutions, news that the Nokia 5800 could become Nokia’s biggest device ever, and more.

Working closely with competitors isn’t perhaps something that’s openly championed as a strategy for innovation by many companies, but OPK has stated that Nokia promises to explore such relationships further in the coming year, as Nokia’s CEO explains here:

“We cannot expect to do it all alone. We have to work together with certain competitors, new players and partners in new ways. We have to compete and co-operate. We are working more closely with many other companies, including operators and partners. We expect more such partnerships to come.”

Alongside pursuing this goal of nurturing more innovative partnerships, Nokia will also be looking to explore new product categories for Symbian and smartphone technologies, extending the reach of higher-end technologies into mid-range devices and even elsewhere. OPK touched on the plans for Symbian and why this move addresses a need for many people looking to downgrade to less expensive products, especially in such fragile economic times:

“The Symbian operating system is the world’s most widely used software platform for advanced mobile phones. We believe that mobile computing should not be limited only to expensive, high-end devices. Expanding Symbian into lower price points is the right thing to do.”

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic was also mentioned. Here on Conversations we previously posed the question, is the 5800 the best handset Nokia has ever launched?, and here OPK highlights how important a product it has already established itself to be, and outlines the scale of significance it could achieve.

“It has the potential to become our most successful device ever. We estimate that this smartphone alone accounts for around 20 per cent of all touch screen devices sold worldwide. It offers unique value for those who want to experience their music on the move, particularly when combined with our innovative Comes With Music service.”

OPK was also keen to highlight how Nokia’s future strategy is morphing and evolving:

“Nokia is fundamentally changing its business model to transform both the company and the industry. While we continue to compete with the traditional mobile device manufacturers, we also are dealing with new competitors entering the market from the PC and Internet industries. To succeed in this new environment, we need to offer consumers irresistible solutions that improve their lives. During 2008, we have taken many steps to ensure we maintain our strong leading position in the device business, while increasing our focus on solutions-centric business models. We have focused our services investments on five primary categories: maps, music, messaging, media and games. These are the areas where the biggest opportunities lie.”

As ever, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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• Best of 2008 in Products – The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
• Nokia 5800 Comes With Music launches in Brazil
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic selling like hotcakes

Tags | 2009, 5800, 6700 Classic, Competitors, internet, nokia 5800 xpressmusic, Nokia Annuall General Meeting, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, opk, PC, symbian