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back to article Nokia shutters Shanghai store as Chinese stay away in their billions

Nokia has closed its flagship Shanghai retail store in an attempt to trim costs and concentrate on other sales channels as it looks to arrest an alarming decline in smartphone sales in the world’s biggest market. State-run news agency Xinhua posted some snaps of the shuttered store – which was opened in 2007 to much fanfare as …

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  1. Andrew Moore
    Coat

    Translation from BS to normal speech...

    "Nokia is focusing on growing its presence in operator and third-party retail outlets, rather than through our own physical stores. We are, of course, also continuously beefing up our online presence."

    Translation: "We fail"

    16 1
    1. MIc
      Reply Icon

      Re: Translation from BS to normal speech...

      did anyone read how WP market share has doubled?

      http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/News/Android-Sprint-and-Samsung-Increased-Share-In-Early-2013

      http://tech2.in.com/news/smartphones/microsoft-plays-the-slow-and-steady-game-as-windows-phone-8-adoption-grows/867372

      1 5
    2. Andus McCoatover
      Reply Icon
      Windows

      We fail?

      or, "we Flop"

      .

      2 0
    3. h3
      Reply Icon

      Re: Translation from BS to normal speech...

      Not really there was a Nokia store in the city where I live and it sold everything at RRP. I don't know anyone who ever bought anything from there. (They still had a service centre built into a fairly close Carphone Warehouse which sold everything cheaper and pretty much all of the same things. This is using CPW's Sim Free pricing (Which is marked up as it is - you get the exact same phone cheaper (Usually by at least £50) with a £10 sim you never need to use)

      0 0
    4. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Translation from BS to normal speech...

      "We are, of course, also continuously beefing up our online presence."

      That'd be why one of the first things Flop did was close their online shops in a load of countries and secondly their websites now are a load of dead links and orphaned files.

      3 0
    5. N13L5
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: We Fail

      Those morons need to offer another OS...

      I don't even bother to compare Nokia's hardware specs anymore, because I know I don't want M$ on my phone no matter what.

      0 0
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "The story of Nokia’s decline in China in many ways mirrors its malaise on the global stage. Once pre-eminent in the feature phone space, it has been unable to win hearts, minds or wallets in the People’s Republic with its Windows Phone-based Lumias as more users upgrade to a smartphone"

    What utter crap. The Chinese couldn't get enough of the Lumias: http://www.latinospost.com/articles/8597/20121224/nokia-lumia-920-sold-out-china-store.htm

    Nokia sold over 2 million of the most expensive 920 Lumia's in 2 months. Let alone the cheaper handsets more suited to the Chinese market that havn't even completed launching yet....

    1 14
    1. RyokuMas
      Reply Icon
      Stop

      "Actually sold..."

      "... or shipped to suppliers?" And also "sold out in 2 hours" - how many units were available?

      Too many dubious MS statistics over the last few years - let's have an independent report of "this is how many handset there were, this is how many sold".

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      1. Don Jefe
        Reply Icon

        Re: "Actually sold..."

        That's a retail report. Manufacturers count sales as they enter the channel. It is up to the partners to get them into the hands of consumers.

        1 0
    2. James O'Shea
      Reply Icon

      err... if they're doing so well, why are they closing the Shanghai store? Just askin'.

      11 0
      1. MIc
        Reply Icon

        @James O'Shea

        because they are doing well through other channels... Samsun is doing a great job without having Samsung stores...

        0 3
        1. garyc2011
          Reply Icon
          Facepalm

          ahh but

          "Samsun is doing a great job without having Samsung stores..."

          Ah but Samsung actually make half decent phones............

          2 0
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Utter crap...

      Anyone doing well would not close a store. You need to get out of denial, the once great Nokia have screwed up massively. What nearly killed them was ignoring Android and ignoring their customers who struggled with countless Symbian issues.

      Perversely Nokia's future may actually be brighter than most people realise, they are selling well in India with low cost devices and I bought an Asha 205 the other day online, cheap and cheerful but I can see the appeal of such a device, especially dual sim, but the other specs were too low for me so sent it back and got a decent spec Samsung equivalent instead.

      The whole market is going to go cheap and cheerful and that's why Apple's share price plumetted and Nokia may well recover over the next 2 or 3 years, possibly.

      8 0
      1. Don Jefe
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        Re: Utter crap... @Frank 14

        Firstly I'm no Nokia fan, but getting out of retail is a really great way to save a lot of hardship and streamline an organization. Retail is a hugely complex and low margin business, which is why 'The Channel' exists. Manufacturers of anything generally don't benefit from physical retail. It is too far removed from the mindset of manufacturing & requires too much handholding.

        The success of Apple stores is more due to their novelty than anything else. The average U.S. customer has never been exposed to a botique style store before. Those types of stores are generally reserved for the ultra wealthy & most people wouldn't even know where to find a proper high end shop. Apple makes Joe Average feel like he is among the rich and powerful. There really isn't room for more wanna be high end electronics stores in the States.

        2 0
    4. garyc2011
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Oh Dear................

      Anon

      "Nokia sold over 2 million of the most expensive 920 Lumia's in 2 months. Let alone the cheaper handsets more suited to the Chinese market that havn't even completed launching yet...."

      OMG That "story" was based on an internal celebration where a Lumia was pictured with a tile saying "2M", it is now known that this 2M DOES NOT MEAN 2 Million............

      Nokia themselves have said so themselves

      But dont allow copious amounts of BS get in the way of a good story heh ?

      Let me ask you this, if it is selling as well as you say why are they closing their biggest store ??? ho hum

      4 0
  3. RyokuMas
    Trollface

    Wow...

    This story's been up a whole half hour and no sign of the obligatory "EPIC [insert Microsoft-related item here] FAIL!" post from Eadon...

    How long does moderation take?

    1 8
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wow...

      It might be one of the days when everyone's favourite commentard has been a naughty boy and the men in white coats have taken away his 386 machine. They only seem to let him out a few days in the week...

      TBH, I think Eadon is some kind of bot, a further refinement of Amanfrommars and designed to post clickbait that increased the number of ad impressions for El Reg.

      2 4
      1. Quxy
        Reply Icon
        Facepalm

        Eadon

        At least he's not a Microsoft shill hiding behind AC, who can be counted on to recycle disproven sales claims like "the Chinese can't get enough of the Lumias" every time a story like this comes up.

        Sure, WP8 may be a great OS, but economics (per-phone licence cost), timing (three years late to the party), and consumer perception of Microsoft (who has no one to blame but itself) have led to dismal real-world sales numbers that are really pretty unsurprising.

        12 0
        1. Paul Crawford Silver badge
          Reply Icon

          Re: Eadon

          I suspect that AC is the commentard formally known as RICHTO, who is the sort of anti-Eadon of these forums with their equally extreme pro-MS/anti-Linux views. But still we fail by feeding the Trolls...

          4 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Alert

      Re: Wow...

      You think that's weird? I saw a post from Eadon a few days ago that didnae mention "Microsoft" or the word "fail" at all.

      We are living in mysterious times.

      3 0
    3. N13L5
      Reply Icon

      Re: Wow...

      There sure seems to be no shortage of paid Microsoft shills on every forum...

      A very low-cost measure for M$, with rates around 0.01 - 0.025 cents per word or so...

      You can just see how many shill posts the poor slobs have to write to feed themselves.

      Looking in the mirror every morning must get more and more difficult with that kind of job.

      0 0
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oooo that smell

    Windows software

    An' brand new phones

    Winphone you're a fail

    There's too much hype

    And too much fud

    Look what's going on around you

    Ooo that smell

    Can't you smell that smell

    Ooo that smell

    The smell of death surrounds you

    No angel investors' fund you

    Stick a Windows on your ARM

    (you fool you)

    So tank another phone

    Take a blow to your stores

    One more fail fool will drown you

    (Hell Yeah)

    Ooo that smell

    Can't you smell that smell

    Ooo that smell

    The smell of death surrounds you

    So they hired you, Elop

    Can't speak the truth when you're full of lies

    Say you'll be profitable tomorrow

    But tomorrow

    might not be here for you

    (Yeah you!)

    Ooo that smell

    Can't you smell that smell

    Ooo that smell

    The smell of death surrounds you

    5 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      I am disappoint....

      What - no "FREEBIRD!" posts? Reg posters, I am disappoint.

      0 0
  5. Anonymous Custard
    Facepalm

    What year are we in again?

    That analysis also suggested that brand recognition for Nokia as a smartphone producer collapsed from 91.6 per cent a year ago to 38.2 per cent in 2012

    Umm, either that was an over 50% drop in about 3 months, or you've been using Google Calendar again Mr M? I thought a year ago was 2012?

    1 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The chinese don't like anything they can't control. So they're sticking with their home grown Android hackups.

    0 4
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The chinese don't like anything they can't control.

      People here seem to hold it the same way!

      The numbers show that very few people want a phone with an OS that can't be customized.

      I like stuff I can use the way I want, not the way some stinking corporation like M$ or Crapple wants to dictate to me.

      0 0
  7. CheesyTheClown
    Trollface

    Almost exactly the reason I won't buy Nokia, HTC or Samsung

    It appears that other people may be happy with a $400-$1000 investment in a phone which no one at the company who makes it will care about a few months later. I personally however demand that whoever I buy a phone makes only one or two models per year. That's why I have iPhone 4 and am anxeously awaiting Surface Phone.

    0 8
    1. fishman
      Reply Icon

      Re: Almost exactly the reason I won't buy Nokia, HTC or Samsung

      Well, you could buy a Nexus smartphone.

      6 0
  8. ecofeco Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    Another textbook example

    Nokia is another textbook example of resting on your laurels.

    For cyin out loud, even Ubuntu is coming out with a smart phone and Nokia has what? Windows?

    FAIL

    5 0
  9. garyc2011

    Sigh

    Nokia is the lame duck of the mobile world...........................

    They should have went Android, and to all the naysayers, they could have release BOTH WP and Android like most mobile phone manufacturers.

    This is a public embarassment for Nokia, shutting their flagship store, not long till the end now I suspect.

    3 0
  10. Long Fei

    Noks

    On the subway these days (here in Beijing) I'm seeing very few Lumias indeed. Very few. I see quite a lot of Apple's, but 99% of them are old models - hardly any iPhone 5s.

    Interestingly, what I am seeing a lot of, certainly more than i5s or SIIIs, are Note IIs. Not sure if that's because I have one myself, or maybe because they stand out more though.

    The only Nokia's I see these days are olde cheap models.

    2 0
  11. valdez

    Nokia phones are not more unpopular, it's just their appeal is becoming more selective (apologies to David St. Hubbins)

    2 0
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    520, 720 & 920

    So how many OS versions are covered in this little group?

    Android is fragmented due to popularity and time, Windows is fragmented because its been poorly managed on the hardware side.

    1 1
    1. Vladimir Nicolici
      Reply Icon
      FAIL

      Re: 520, 720 & 920

      Those are Nokia Lumia phone models. And the "little group" has only one OS version, Windows Phone 8.

      I find a bit strange to see all the Nokia and Windows hate on this forum and the obvious anti-Microsoft bias of the authors (but I can't fault them for giving their readers what they want).

      This is strange because Windows Phone has a larger market share in UK than in US (6.7% vs 4.1%), and I don't see such anti-MS/anti-Nokia articles on US tech sites. BTW, of those 6.7%, 5.6% are Nokia Lumia phones.

      Also, the doubling of market share in one year (from 3.0% to 6.7% in UK), is hardly a reason to post tasteless stuff like "Smell of death putting them off, perhaps".

      Yes, Nokia makes mistakes, one of them being not releasing the phones fast enough (in some countries the high-end models arrive about 6 months after the initial launch).

      Yes, Microsoft makes mistakes, like not allowing the first generation devices to be upgraded to Windows 8.

      But even with all those mistakes, the growth in market share is healthy. If the trend continues, by the end of this year Microsoft and Nokia could secure third place for smartphone OS and as a phone manufacturer. The other manufacturers, except Samsung and Apple, are only a few percent in front of Nokia, and dropping.

      I'm a HTC Radar owner, and I will switch to a Lumia 920 at the end of my contract.

      1 1
  13. andro

    we all knew it

    nokia - big $ in R&D, linux.. had a great platform but failed to bring it to market quickly enough. Then MS got involved, and the good stuff was canned, R&D dollars in the bin, and now, they seem to think that bringing out 10 new models every few months that all look exactly the same with the same name and a new number is going to do it for them. Winpho.. so borning. And who ever though that a menu with a bunch of different size squares on it was appealing. That person made the biggest mistake in recent times!

    0 0
  14. James Pickett

    91% to 38% brand recognition in a year. Is that a record..?

    0 0
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