Nokia bets big on enterprise segment with 'Lumia'

Betting big on its 'Lumia' series, Finnish handset maker Nokia is targeting sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, banking and insurance to capture a major share of India's enterprise smartphone market.

Many companies are now allowing employees to use their personally owned devices for official use and that Nokia feels is a major opportunity.

"Earlier companies used to buy handsets in bulk, but now they are now looking at allowing workforce to use their own devices at work. This shows that there is a clear need for alternatives and we see that as a big opportunity," Nokia India Director (Enterprise Sales) Suresh Vedula said.

Nokia already has its E-series of business devices and now, with Lumia 800 and Lumia 610, the portfolio ensures that needs of these entities are taken care of, he added.

The Finnish giant is focusing on verticals like consulting, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, banking and insurance for strengthening its position in the segment, he said.

Traditionally, BlackBerry was considered to be an enterprise device. But in recent times, as IT policies become more flexible and workforce becomes mobile, companies are opening up to the idea of allowing their employees to use their own devices.

This has thrown up many opportunities for handset makers like Apple, Nokia and Samsung among others.

Nokia had collaborated with Microsoft last year for making Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform and Lumia is the first series of device from the partnership.

It is estimated that about 8-10% of the smartphone sales comes from the enterprise segment.

According to a study by CyberMedia, smartphone shipments in India touched 11.2 million units in calendar year 2011, recording a year-on-year growth of 87%. The year saw launch of 150 models by over 30 vendors in the smartphone category in India.

Nokia emerged as the leader in the smartphones segment with a 38% share, followed by Samsung with 28% share in CY 2011. Research in Motion (BlackBerry maker) dropped to third place with a 15% share.

"With number of mobile workforce on the rise, businesses are going in for smartphones as they allow productivity to the professionals as they are on the move, without work being hampered," Vedula said.

With solutions from partners like Microsoft (Exchange ActiveSync) and IBM (Lotus Notes Traveler), professionals can get secure and real-time access to their data, he added.