Both Moody’s and S&P now officially downgraded Nokia’s bonds to junk. Nokia keeps struggling as it loses its no. 1 position in terms of units sold to Samsung and their plan to return to the top with the Lumia range is still only a dream.
S100 is a third reincarnation of Canon’s S series that started in 2009 with S90. A year later, Canon lunched an improved version and called it S95 in 2010. Finally, in late 2011 S100 was launched.
We have used S90 as our main family point-and-shoot for a couple of years and have been quite happy with it bar some usability annoyances like the way-too-loose rear wheel that is so easy to move by accident, inability to use optical zoom when shooting video etc. But then, a few weeks ago, the flash stopped working. When I found out that the repair would cost me £65 (which is about how much you can now sell S90 for on ebay) I felt it would be more sensible to upgrade to something a bit more up to date. After a bit of research and after considering several other cameras like Nikon 1 and Fuji X10 I again settled on Canon. The main aspects influencing my choice were (in priority order):
Since my post in June last year Sony Ericsson and Motorola were acquired making the victims list total 14 companies, with Nokia, LG and RIM having joined the “endangered species list”. If the pattern repeats, then RIM and Nokia are in early phases of what promises to be an extended period of pain followed by an exit.
Regardless of their actual financial performance, all these companies have been, to a varying degree, struggling to keep up with the innovation pace and business performance of Apple for over three years. As of today though, I find it difficult to imagine that Nokia will get acquired anytime soon. On the other hand, I can totally see that happening to RIM. Provided that there’s someone who would actually want to buy it. Remember what eventually happened to Palm?
Nokia’s brand value, which normally allows for price premiums regardless of functional value, is clearly evaporating in its last bastions.
Nokia’s financial results as well as a drop in units sold and plummeting brand value indicate that despite their notoriously repeated claims, it is no longer true that Nokia’s position in developing markets (as opposed to developed markets) is still strong. In reality, Nokia is getting weaker every day. And Lumia 900 is unlikely to change it either. Elop may need to start drafting another burning platform memo…
