Nokia is not entering the laptop market

Nokia has ruled out a move into the laptop market, arguing that ‘there is no money’ in making portable PCs.

Nokia’s global marketing VP, Anssi Vanjoki, made the comments in an interview with Mobile earlier this month.

Vanjoki said: ‘I have heard the rumours and I can categorically say Nokia is not entering the laptop market.’

Industry executives have anticipated a Nokia laptop to emerge for several years, and the expectation has increased as more of Nokia’s operator and retail partners are selling fixed-line and mobile broadband services.

Apple, Nokia’s new rival, has had strong sales of its Macs in the laptop market, but Vanjoki said: ‘They sell some Notebooks, but the growth is from iPods. I don’t think they’re having commercial success with Notebooks.’

One industry executive said: ‘It’s surprising because it [a Nokia laptop] would have credibility in that space. And a laptop is no more than a giant flip phone, so I can’t see how it would incur lots of new [development] costs.’

More broadband providers and retailers are adopting a subsidy model akin to traditional mobile, where the cost of the line rental and/or commission on broadband agreements contributes to the cost of the hardware.

Vodafone, T-Mobile and 3 have all publicly said mobile broadband will be the area of growth for their businesses this year.

Carphone CEO Andrew Harrison has called 2008 ‘the year of the laptop’, and Phones 4u is trialling subsidised laptops in stores in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Nokia is more focused on attacking the digital music market and navigation market, with free services on its upcoming devices this year.