Nokia mobile map software: Free content unlocks leap in downloads - 'game changer'?
A download every second: That's the experience of the first couple of weeks at the world's largest mobile handset manufacturer. Nokia's decision to give customers its Ovi maps for free has unlocked massive pent-up demand, triggering a leap in use that threatens to leave rivals like TomTom on the shelf.
The magic 'million downloads' was reached in the first week of making the product free in its Ovi portal, and traffic continues to be extremely strong. Last year the Scandinavian manufacturer brought together their gaming, messaging, music and navigation under the umbrella of the new brand Ovi (meaning 'door' in Finnish), in a move that was clearly the formation of a new generation mobile portal. They created the architecture for widespread third party apps development, and begun heavyweight promotional campaigns about their new services. The Navteq acquisition that became Ovi maps is a bedrock for location-based services and the tools people need on their mobile devices.
The industry buzz may have focused on Apple's Apps store, but Nokia's legacy as the original smartphone manufacturer has given it an unrivalled installed customer base, present in every country and continued strong brand loyalty. They also have price points that make their smartphones accessible to all audiences, far beyond the niches of Apple and Blackberry.
Senior Nokia execs are describing this as a "game changer", and with the web and mobile finally converging the timing is well placed. Collectively the Ovi platform is now clocking up a massive million downloads each day, and the navigation products will no doubt act as strong traffic drivers to get people sampling music, games, their messaging tools and the third party apps.
This is another step in the restructure of the mobile sector and the migration to a single device. It will hurt rival device manufacturers such as TomTom, as well as those dependent on the Windows Mobile closed operating system. In a month when the iPad dominated device news, it could be easy to lose perspective: just remember that for every one iPad shipped, more than a thousand Nokias will slide into people's pockets. This should be seen as a game changer but it isn't about navigation, it's about mobile portals, location based services and unlocking a leap in behaviour across hundreds of millions of people.