Nokia Executive Calls iPhone “Interesting,” but Doubts its Mainstream Appeal

Press Release - January 15, 2007

Apple’s newly unveiled iPhone is an interesting consumer product, but lacks the features needed to capture a large share of the high-end wireless market, according to the head of Nokia’s multimedia unit, Anssi Vanjoki.

“It is quite an interesting product but it is lacking in a few essential features, such as 3G, which would enable fast(er) data connections,” Vanjoki was quoted as saying by the Finnish business newspaper, Taloussanomat.

Vanjoki believes that the iPhone’s launch will provide a boost for the wireless multimedia market, but that the device won’t gain the same mainstream appeal as competing handsets from Nokia.

This is another piece of evidence that we have been on the right track from the beginning,” he said, referring to the Finnish cell phone maker’s multimedia strategy.

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, who unveiled the new device on Tuesday, says that his company hopes to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, a goal which Vanjoki says is “not at a very high level.”

By comparison, Nokia claims to have sold 70 million MP3-enabled cell phones in 2006, which still accounts for a very small percentage of the company’s total handset sales.