Nokia to release over 40 models for 2011, world gasps 

It seems that Nokia have gone back onto the offensive, and decided they would release over 40 phones for the remainer of the year (2011). The further ramifications mean that as eagerly anticipated, there won’t be a Windows-powered model until at least next year. And as we know, a year is a colossal time in mobile phone times.
Quite why the Finnish giant is taking this type of stance is beyond me, as this kind of tinkering is what led them down this road in the first place. By peppering the market with handsets, most of which are not distinguishable enough from each other, their goal is to presumably increase brand awareness and even flood some segments. I’d rather they just concentrated on a few handsets, like the C7:

 

Here’s why I think it’s a crappy idea.
1) Diluted product development: Nokia should be saving their cash to fund extra developments, rather than spreading themselves thin. I would prefer it if they concentrated their energies into primary, flagship handsets, as they did in the past.
2) Problematic market focus: One of the problems with releasing so many handsets is that it’s difficult to show to Joe Public how these handsets are different. Fine for those in the industry, but to the average consumer, a Nokia 5230 versus a Nokia 5530 is just not going to appear any different. Result: confusion.
3) Not addressing the real issues: Sorry Nokia, this isn’t addressing any of the real issues behind why you’ve fallen behind, and just releasing handsets in the hope that something will stick is just not going to work. At best, it’s a shot in the dark. Think about what consumers want; do they want a company that releases fewer, great handsets, or one that releases many average ones?
4) No creation of customer loyalty: One of Apple’s major strengths is that they’ve created massive customer loyalty in their products, which is pretty similar to how Nokia had it in the early 2000′s, with one handset becoming almost standard across market segments. It’s hard to see Apple actually having the same success if they had released 40 different models of phone. Customers are clannish, and more handsets means smaller clans. If there ever is to be a revolt (of words) against Apples, unification is necessary and we’ve seen that we some Blackberry models.
Come on Nokia, creation of a ‘classic’ phone is not just down to the technical ability of the handset itself, but rather to the marketing behind it. I see it as a bit of an arrogant ‘we’re still the best’ gesture, when in fact they should be swallowing their pride and playing catchup. Didn’t they say they wanted to go back to basics? I can’t see it here, but I’ll be happy to revise my comments on seeing some actual handsets.