Las Vegas, USA - Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will share the company's vision of how simplifying and converging mobility and the Internet with connected multimedia devices is making it possible to create, consume and share our experiences when and where we want.
Speaking at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Mr. Kallasvuo said "Mobility will be at the core of how the Internet evolves, where people can have access to the people, content and information they want from wherever they are. In emerging markets, we see that more people are accessing the Internet for the first time via their mobile device rather than on a PC and we aim to be at the forefront of making that happen."
"Single purpose devices are becoming less attractive," continued Mr. Kallasvuo. "And the converged devices taking their place are increasingly powerful and easy to use." Reaching 90 million units in 2006 and expected to reach 250 million units in 2008, the market for converged devices is the fastest growing segment of consumer electronics. In this market, Nokia is the world's largest manufacturer, selling close to 40 million converged devices in 2006.
"Nokia brings the value added of mobility and connectivity to convergence - enabling people to take their content and Internet services with them," said Mr. Kallasvuo. He also shared his excitement regarding Nokia's cooperation with Sprint Nextel in bringing WiMaX and open internet based services and mobile devices to the pockets of US consumers in 2008.
Mr. Kallasvuo highlighted Nokia's market strength and consumer base. "More than 850 million people have a Nokia mobile phone in their hands. No other consumer electronics company in the world has ever had such a customer base." In 2006, Nokia was the world's largest camera manufacturer with approximately 140 million cameras sold as well as close to 70 million music enabled devices, making Nokia the world's largest manufacturer of music devices as well.
Speaking to the importance of usability and product design, Mr. Kallasvuo showcased the Nokia N76 multimedia computer, an ultraslim combination of premium materials and technology. "Ultimately, convergence has to mean convenience with little compromise. With the Nokia N76, we've been able to offer people a beautifully designed product that outperforms the competition while being easy to use," he explained.
Mr. Kallasvuo will announce agreements with leading Internet companies, helping them to take their brands and content mobile. Nokia announced integrated support for Vox, a free personal blogging service from Six Apart, with the newly announced Nokia N93i multimedia computer. Nokia and Skype announced a collaboration to develop a new mobile Skype experience on the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. Nokia and Yahoo! announced the availability of Yahoo! Go services, including address book synchronization, mobile voice instant messaging, automatic photo uploading and Yahoo! Mail support for Nokia's broad range of Series 40 based mobile phones.
In addition, Mr. Kallasvuo presented the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and the Nokia 6131 NFC handset which integrates Near Field Communications (NFC) technology to enable information sharing, service initiation and payment & ticketing capability, all activated with just one tap of the device.
