If you were the new Nokia Mobile CPO, what would you do?

Nokia Mobile still didn’t announce a new Chief Product Officer after Juho Sarvikas announced he is leaving after four years in business. Finding a new CPO is probably a priority for the company that just announced a new strategy for its mobile smartphones. While the feature phone business is still holding up pretty well, the smartphone business isn’t in the best shape, and the newly announced strategy needs great future announcements to keep the brand and Finnish startup alive.

While the main strategy might be in place, the new CPO should also work the strategy in detail to help the brand thrive in a highly competitive industry. There are many things that we don’t know about how the smartphone industry is functioning, but we can get the main idea where Nokia Mobile failed in the past four years. Maybe, as consumers, we can see the potentially better way, of course, if it is financially doable.

Let us say that Google and Qualcomm still need Nokia Mobile as a partner and that others are willing to boost the Nokia brand which still has loyal fans around the world. So, what could be the main focus of the new Nokia Mobile’s CPO? This is what I would recommend from a consumer perspective.

1. Announce fewer phones per year – this might not be the best solution for the company since Nokia Mobile can probably earn more by announcing affordable and less demanding to produce phones that can be offered to businesses and carriers with a higher margin. But, if you develop fewer phones, you should be able to save up some resources spent on the development process. They need 6 phones, from the affordable to high-end model, which can be replaced every year or every second year.
2. Concentrate of camera software and hardware – Nokia phones were known for their capable cameras, which is something that can’t be said for today’s Nokia smartphones. While there are some good Nokia cameraphones (Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 8.3 5G, or Nokia Sirocco) there is always space for improvements. Also, Nokia was a synonym for progress in the smartphone industry and is not definitely seen as one today. 
3. Make (a proper) flagship phone(s) – Nokia Mobile definitely needs financial resources to develop a competent flagship that will have all the things that a flagship is required to have, great camera, processor, speakers, display, and some additional tech like fast charging, wireless charging and maybe even waterproofness. They should add also the best that the industry can offer, maybe under the screen selfie cam?
4. Bring back some interesting design ideas and form factors – I do miss some of the old and fun Nokia phones and Nokia Mobile could create a modern version of a flip phone with a full touch screen inside and outside. We’ve seen that Nokia N95 concept, and maybe a foldable flip phone is also a possibility…
5. Create good official accessories – I can’t stress enough how good accessories are important for brand awareness, and Nokia Mobile should have great Audio accessories (partially done already), one cool Nokia watch, and some nice BT speakers and chargers (both wireless and wall chargers).
6. Make a global webshop – I will just say that if Withings can sell its watches online and send them around the world without any problem, the same should be possible to do with Nokia phones and accessories. I know that there will be some problems with logistics, but if they want to create available products, they need a good webshop and their product available globally. If they don’t know how to do it, find someone who knows and can, and hire that person or a business to do it for you. I still don’t see any result from that Strax deal, but maybe will see something soon.

Our Abdulla Zaki, or Mr. Mobile Nokia as he likes to flatter himself :), gave his vision of what he would do if he is the next CPO of Nokia Mobile.

1) Less phones per year
2) More flagships
3) Focus on hardware quality and imaging
4) Create a UI on top of android worthy of the Nokia name
5) Experiment with more form factors and cool ideas
6) Create brand awareness by strategic marketing
7) Return to Lumia designs

— Abdulla Zaki (@TheMrNokia) April 18, 2021

What do you guys think? What would you do or recommend to the new CPO of Nokia Mobile?

 

Idea for the post from Ahmad.