Nokia will reintroduced their best-selling handset from back in their heyday. Hopefully this new device will be updated with improvements to its screen, features and speed. The Nokia 3310 was always a feature phone, not a smartphone. So, what’s the point in this smartphone world? Will it be successful? And if so, will the success last?
I believe this will get lots of attention, at least at first. The only question is will this be a short-lived success or a long-term victory? We may not know for a few years.
Today we live in a smartphone-centric world. Carriers, handset makers and app makers are all driving us deeper into this new space. While the vast majority of users will remain there simply because they are addicted to smartphones, there is a small and growing slice of the customer pie who have had enough.
I talked with CNBC about the Nokia 3310 before Mobile World Congress. It gave us a chance to speculate about the future of Nokia, and more, the entire industry. Looking back and looking forward it gives us a chance to think about the direction of the industry and what it will look like five year from today.
So, what will wireless look like in five or 10 years? Five years from today the smartphone sector will still be the largest and most important sector. That blends technology from smartphone makers, carriers and apps from countless other companies and industries.
However, this idea of bringing back yesterday is something interesting to think about. Will this just be a short-term shot in the dark. Something where interest will be hot, but burn out quickly. Or will this idea have longer legs? Will it create another growth sector in the wireless world for those who don’t need a smartphone?
We won’t have an answer for a few years. However, with all the excitement and attraction Nokia will get on the reintroduction of this phone, I fully expect to see others jumping into the same pond. And there are other phone makers like Motorola who could also take part.
Will Nokia 3301 be successful? If so, for how long?
How smart will these more ordinary feature phones be? My guess is these devices will be somewhere between the old feature phones and todays smartphones. There was a rumor the Nokia 3310 would be an Android-powered device. That seems to be dispelled, but it does raise an interesting question.
In order to get users to like this new device today, it will have to be modernized. The screen will have to be color and better quality. That’s easy. The features are the real question. What will you be able to do with your Nokia phone?
Will you be able to do smartphone things like banking, watch TV, send text messages, emails and surf the web? Or what if this is a more basic, phone-only device. There are many questions, but either way I believe the chances for success with this phone are good, at least short-term. Long-term is the real question.
I think it will be a hit at MWC. The only question is this: are there enough customers who would rather go back to a regular feature phone to help Nokia rebuild their market share and turn their growth wave from falling back to growing once again? We’ll just have to wait and see.
If successful, I do expect to see this space get more popular in the next few years. Companies like Nokia, BlackBerry, Motorola and others could sure use a kick in the butt. The only question is, will this be a long-term opportunity or just a flash in the pan?
