August 19, 2010
By Peter van der Merwe

Gerard Brandjes recently took the reins at Nokia SA, and Nokia Ringaz pinned him down to find out more about his plans for the company, where the mobile market is going – and, of course, his favourite phones!

Nokia’s traditionally dominated the South African handset market, but competition is tougher than ever. What’s your view on the market right now? And what are your plans going forward?

There are a lot more competitors in the market right now, which makes it a really good place for the consumer to be! Nokia’s still the leading mobile phone company in South Africa, and we’re continually adapting the business to keep delivering what our customers want and need. We’ll always be strong in handsets, but we’re shifting towards being a more service-focused company. Just look at Ovi Services, the Nokia Music Store, the Ovi Store, Ovi Maps and Ovi Mail – and there’s more where that came from.

There’s a lot of action at the top end of the market – iPhone, Blackberry, Android and the upcoming Windows Phone 7 all fighting for a piece of the pie. What is Nokia’s approach going to be in the smartphone market in the next year or so?

We’re going to continue to bring solutions to the market, like the new N8, which we will launch in South Africa in September.  We’ll also be using the Symbian^3 operating system as the platform for various services and solutions that address the clear trend of people moving away from multiple devices towards one converged device.

Is Nokia having to reinvent itself to stay relevant in a world that’s moving towards web services? What trends do you see here?

Let’s put it this way. Nokia’s continually evolving. Some areas we lead and in some areas we are the challenger. The most important thing for us is to align our business to the needs of the consumer, and we have a record of being able to make fairly radical changes in our business to stay abreast of trends. One of the key things we’re doing right now is investigating a broader range of partnerships with companies like Microsoft, Intel and a number of third-party application developers to leverage the very best of the ecosystem and deliver it to our users.

We often hear about the mobile being the only point of access to the Internet for millions of people in Africa. Is there a real demand for Internet access? Where are you seeing uptake?

If you look across Africa, the difference the internet – and specifically, the mobile internet – has made in people’s lives is profound. The social benefits we’ve seen as result of mobile internet access are astounding: across the continent, people have suddenly been given the ability to send money, pay for services, access information and improve their education. This area is going to grow for some time yet.

You’ve most recently spent time at Nokia’s Kenyan operations? What challenges do you see that are unique to the South African market?

Each market in Africa is unique, but there are a couple of things that stand out about South Africa. For one, the operators have an important role in shaping the market, and it’s crucial to work well with them to be successful. Compared to the rest of Africa, the South African market is also more mature: consumers here are far more demanding, and we need to recognise that and respond to it.

Where’s the Next Big Opportunity in the local market? How will you go after it?

We’ve got to make sure we deliver local content. We’ve got to reach out better to the developer community, and get the right people plugged into our ecosystem.

Time to put you on the spot. How will the mobile telephony landscape look in five years’ time?

Convergence is the name of the game. This is an environment where people are doing more and more things on their mobile devices. In five years’ time, we can expect to see unlimited data plans and usage that allow people to more fully harness the power of mobile technology across all aspects of their lives.

What phone do you use personally? Why?

I use the Nokia E72, one of our business phones. It’s got a QWERTY keyboard, maps, and all my personal and work mail gets pushed directly to my device. I’m always on the go, and my E72 helps me know what’s going on at all times. It’s also got a great navigation experience: Ovi Maps has taken this to the next level. It has maps for more than 75 countries, so it’s great for travelling.

What’s your favourite handset ever?

Probably the 6110 Navigator, which was one of the first navigation devices released by Nokia. It really took the user experience to the next level.

Touchscreen or keypad?

Keypad. For me, it’s all about the quickest possible typing experience!

What’s your favourite Ovi Store App?

I have a couple. One is Own Voice, which allows me to use my own voice to guide me to my destination. Then there’s Shazam: if there’s a song playing on the radio that you don’t recognise, turn on the app and it will tell you immediately! I also use News24 to keep updated – but I’m on Ovi store every other day looking for new and cool apps, and hope to see lots more South African apps soon!