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Lumia能拯救诺基亚吗?(节选)

Lumia能拯救诺基亚吗?(节选)

Michal Lev-Ram 2012-09-07
苦苦挣扎的诺基亚推出全新Lumia智能手机,希望能够重振公司在手机市场上的雄风。然而,诺基亚早已丧失了抢夺智能手机市场份额的大好良机,而如今主导诺基亚智能手机业务的执行副总裁以前竟然是一位营销经理,缺乏技术管理经验。诺基亚能够赢得这场翻身仗吗?

    斯蒂芬•埃洛普自从2010年担任诺基亚公司(Nokia)首席执行官以来,已经实施了一系列大胆举措,从发布重振军心的备忘录,将这家麻烦缠身的手机制造商比作一个站在着火平台上的人,到将公司的未来押宝在微软(Microsoft)的Windows操作系统上。他还有其它的大胆举动吗?现在,他将重振诺基亚智能手机业务——进一步说,也是让整个公司重振旗鼓——的重任交到了琼•哈尔罗的手上。而这是一位缺乏技术管理经验的前任营销经理。

    9月初,就在陪审团判定全球头号手机厂商三星公司(Samsung)侵犯了苹果公司(Apple)数项专利,市场的一片哗然和混乱刚刚落幕之际,哈尔罗便推出了自己的最新举措——发布了两款搭载微软最新移动平台Windows 8的时尚手机。分析师相信,此次胜诉将会让苹果公司更理直气壮地起诉其他手机厂商。尽管一些观察人士暗示,苹果公司可能并不会把搭载微软系统的手机放在眼里,但有一点是确定无疑的:这一裁决将迫使手机企业对自己的产品充分差异化,以区别于iPhone。但是,深陷困境的诺基亚早已错过了消费者纷纷改用智能手机的市场良机,它能推出具备足够新意的手机撼动苹果的江湖地位吗?

    显然,哈尔罗对此坚信不疑。2010年7月,埃洛普钦点她执掌智能手机的运营大任。而她为《财富》杂志(Fortune)提供了深入公司内部的机会,让我们得以一窥她为了将诺基亚的最新款智能手机产品线推向市场而采取了哪些步骤。这一市场试水行动首先由Lumia 800和Lumia 710这两款手机充当先锋,它们于2011年秋推向全球市场。她说:“要重新吸引人们的关注,就得有最棒的产品。”她的第一步是向微软示爱。为了确保两个公司的队伍保持同步,她重新调整了诺基亚的组织架构,力求与微软的Windows手机部门架构相匹配。微软副总裁兼Windows手机部门总监特里•迈尔森证实了她的说法:“我信得过她。她也采用了同样直接、真诚的沟通方式激励自己的团队。”

    即便在积极谋求与微软合作时,她也不忘对其他业务部门开展大刀阔斧的改革,其中就包括遣散诺基亚自己的塞班操作系统(Symbian)的开发团队。而这一系统现在已将舞台拱手让给了Windows系统。她表示,前往诺基亚位于英国范堡罗的办公室去遣散上百名工程师那天是自己在诺基亚经历过的最艰难一天。她说:“那时,我的工作主要是重组公司将保留下来的部门。遣散行动是个很大的挑战,不过我坚信,这才是诺基亚通往美好未来的唯一道路。”

    诺基亚在智能手机上的新战略能否打开局面还难以很快见到分晓,但这家手机企业已经获得了一些提前到来的小小胜利。在哈尔罗的密切督促下,她的团队已实现了生产目标,甚至获得了一些赞誉。上个财季诺基亚Lumia系列共出货400万台,较前一财季的销售量翻了一番。科技博客CNET.com对Lumia 800的“创新设计”和“靓丽屏幕”赞赏有加,但对这款手机的拍照和摄像品质不无抱怨。最新款的Lumia多出了一些令人印象深刻的性能——特别是屏幕达到4.6英寸的Lumia 920,它的拍照功能显著增强,可在微光环境下自如拍摄(请看文末的照片)。

    哈尔罗表示,诺基亚将发挥自己的强项,使Lumia系列凭借一系列创新脱颖而出,它们主要包括:定位服务(诺基亚拥有地图供应商Navteq)、图像功能、硬件设计,包括新材料的运用等。

    请点击此处查看英文全文>>

    译者:清远

    Since Stephen Elop became CEO of Nokia in 2010 he has made a series of bold moves, from releasing a rally-the-troops memo comparing the flailing mobile-phone maker to a man on a burning platform to hitching the company's future to Microsoft's Windows operating system. His other daring deed? Assigning the crucial task of rebooting Nokia's smartphone business -- and by extension, resuscitating the entire company -- to Jo Harlow, a low-key former marketing manager with scant technical experience.

    Harlow unveiled her latest effort, two sleek new phones built atop the latest version of Microsoft's mobile platform, Windows 8, in early September in the wake of the chaos and confusion surrounding a jury verdict that found that No. 1 smartphone maker Samsung had infringed on several Apple patents. Analysts believe Apple (AAPL) will be emboldened by its win to sue other phonemakers, and while some observers have suggested that Microsoft-fueled phones may not be in Apple's cross hairs, one thing is clear: The ruling will push handset companies to differentiate their products from the iPhone. But can beleaguered Nokia (NOK), which largely missed the consumer shift to smart devices, deliver phones that are innovative enough to unseat Apple?

    Harlow, who was tapped in July 2010 by Elop to run the smartphone business, certainly thinks so. She offered Fortune an inside look at the steps she has taken to bring Nokia's newest smartphone line to market, starting with the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, released worldwide in the fall of 2011. "Becoming cool again means having great products," she says. Her first step: to show Microsoft (MSFT) some love. To make sure the teams were in sync, she rearranged her organization to match her partner's Windows Phone unit structure. "I can trust her with what she tells me," confirms Terry Myerson, the Microsoft vice president who heads the Windows Phone division. "She uses that same direct and genuine communication to motivate her team."

    Even as she was building bridges with Microsoft, Harlow was dismantling other operations, including teams that had been working on Nokia's internal operating system, Symbian, which lost out to Windows Phone. She says her most difficult day at Nokia was going out to the company's office in Farnborough, England, to lay off hundreds of engineers. "A big part of my job at that time was restructuring the organization that would remain," says Harlow. "It was a huge challenge, but I believed so strongly that this was the route to a great future for Nokia."

    It is too soon to know whether Nokia's smartphone strategy is a hit, but the handset maker has scored some small, early wins. Under Harlow's watchful eye, her team has met its production targets and even won some plaudits. Last quarter Nokia shipped 4 million Lumia phones, double the number it sold the quarter before. Tech blog CNET.com praised the Lumia 800's "innovative design" and "gorgeous screen" but complained about the device's camera and video quality. The newest Lumia devices pack some impressive features -- especially the 4.6-inch Lumia 920, which comes with a souped-up camera that lets users take pictures in low-light settings (see image at the bottom).

    Harlow says Nokia can play to its strength and differentiate Lumia smartphones with innovations in location-based services (it owns mapping provider Navteq), imaging, and hardware design, including the use of new materials.

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