Symbian falls on the threshold of the 3G.

Three months ago, when Samsung and Sony Ericsson again emphasised the total abandonment of Symbian, it was said that there is no difference now whether Symbian is open source, because only Nokia, a truly decent handset maker, is supporting it.

But just dozens of days later, the Symbian Foundation officially announced that the foundation's official website symbian.org closed on December 17, and Symbian's smartphone operating system will be closed again. Today, December 17 has passed, symbian.org finally like some of the United States and the U.S. Dili website, officially withdrew from the stage of history.

Such a fate, is not a prophecy. Symbian's future in smartphones is already destined for iOS and Android when it is released. Now it's time to say goodbye.

Collapse of the brilliant

In China, when it comes to Symbian, even if you don't know what it is, you must use it. Because all of Nokia's handsets use the operating system (not to mention the N900), the equivalent of a mobile phone brand has once occupied 80% of China's mobile phone market. The familiar nine Sudoku interface, almost become the Chinese people's minds of mobile phone standards. So many Nokia fans have so far refused to admit that Symbian's global share has fallen below 30% per cent by the end of 2010.

This is no doubt synonymous with Symbian's tragedy.

Symbian originates from the Psion company and its EPOC operating system. 1998, Psion United Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and other companies to form Symbian. Samsung, Siemens, Panasonic and other companies in the subsequent accession, Symbian Company's size has grown. Nokia mobile phones in the popular version of the S60, Nokia is based on the Symbian code of its own development of an operating system interface. Samsung and Sony Ericsson handsets, which are more common in China, often use the Symbian system.

In 2008 Nokia acquired a 52% per cent stake in Symbian at a cost of more than 400 million dollars and achieved full holdings. and announced that Symbian will be fully turned to open source. Hope to attract more participants and developers, but only two years later, the Symbian Foundation website closed, but also officially announced that Nokia hopes to borrow the open source farce officially frustrated. Meanwhile, Nokia's share price fell 23% in a year, and its market value shrank by 9.4 billion euros ...

This is not only the tragedy of Symbian, but also the tragedy of Nokia.

Down on the threshold of 3G

If Symbian had previously represented a mobile-phone alliance, Symbian would now have an equal sign with Nokia. The decline of the Nokia Empire, and Symbian's market decline, is simply a script. In 2010 years, the market saw Nokia, high level of frequent changes in the market strategy volatility, product release repeatedly delayed. What's wrong with this old cell phone overlord?

Nokia's rise was accompanied by the 2G mobile era. In the 2G era, people's mobile phone requirements are based on communication, as well as a small number of multimedia, network applications. Nokia to its own product quality, highly adapted to the 2G era of consumer demand. Symbian's development, also fixed in the 2G era.

And when the 3G and mobile internet era came, people's first appeal to the mobile phone, is no longer the telephone communication, but more comfortable and convenient internet applications. People are eager to get a faster network experience on a small screen than on a computer. At this point, the Apple iphone first came in a way to meet the new needs of consumers. Although the first iphone is only 2.75G mobile phone, but it is the finger instead of keyboard and mouse design ideas, and fully network-oriented experience of software design, fully meet the new era of consumer aspirations. Next, Apple's App Store, which opens up a new model for mobile-phone profitability in the 3G era, has opened up.

2G era selling mobile phones, 3G era selling platform, this series of heavy bombs, the fierce bombing of the market and consumers. People quickly labeled Nokia and other handsets "past".

Then, Google, the world's most powerful internet company, released its own mobile operating system, Android. Google, a web search, has since started to design Android as a fully mobile-era product, coupled with the free supply of its rival makers, so that its market share has risen from 3.5% a year ago. soared to 25.5%. Nearly all of Symbian's lost market share this year has been posted to Android. In addition to IPhone4, the market's new heavyweight handsets are all Android systems.

Nokia, still only on Symbian based on the reduction of Gaga, maintain the S60 Millennium constant Turtle Speed interface and inefficient wrt, still let consumers continue to mountainous in the menu to find a legendary feature. Even the capacitive screen, multi-touch and other 3g necessary technology, until the end of the N8 to provide.

For smartphones, the soul is the operating system. All handset makers on the market are aggressively improving their products at this point. Nokia does not have to do, is the welfare of the Europeans too lazy to change, or the boat disaster turned around, is not important. Anyway, to sum up, Nokia today's Dilemma, and Sony Walkman lost to MP3 no difference-the former overlord, in the face of the new era and technology, the reluctance to give up the existing mature technology, eventually by other companies to seize the new market. When the old market shrinks and tries to hit new markets, the original overlord has become a challenger.

Symbian, Nokia's Symbian, fell on the threshold of 3G.

Symbian, it's time to say good-bye.

In the world's largest smartphone market, the market for Symbian in North America has traditionally been less than a others category in pie charts. And in Europe, where it is home, the past two years have been grabbed by Android and iOS. As a result, many market analysts believe that, compared to the mature European and American markets, smartphones in the ascendant China is Nokia's way out.

Because China's 3G era is just beginning, and Nokia in emerging markets, there are other regions are difficult to match the strong foundation. To conquer China's 470 million of mobile phone users, for Nokia, at least to ensure that the low-end market standing.

But, from a development point of view, relying on emerging markets such as China and India, but not accelerate the improvement of products, Nokia is more dangerous. Obviously, sticking to emerging markets is because it is still occupied by 2G. In the future, with the expansion of the 3G new market, Nokia's share will be shrinking with the 2G market. So Nokia's first priority is not how to sell more handsets in emerging markets, but how to radically change its operating system.

Look at why Apple and Google are winning the market, because iOS and Android are all newly developed operating systems that target the mobile internet era. Symbian is a 2G-ready operating system, after more than 10 years of accumulation, its code capacity has been comparable to the level of XP, just add it, only to create Symbian 3 so continue to be dragged down by redundant code of the improved products.

It is inevitable for Nokia to give up Symbian as the main operating system.

Any product has its own life cycle, the future does not belong to Symbian.

Based on Nokia's official information, the N-series flagship model after N8 will be fully used Meego system, while the original S40 mobile phone is still the most comprehensive price in the non-intelligent machines. Symbian, will appear in the middle of the two. This is in fact the most embarrassing situation, the consumers of iOS and Android that have been a delicacy, must have sniffed at the old Symbian, And just call to send a message to consumers to continue to use S40.symbian can maintain, but Nokia's veteran fans, but when a camera super poor other experience N8 can continue to sell 4, 5,000, it is not known Nokia cumulative brand effectiveness can also be sold between them how long.

Just as Microsoft XP gave up the 9X architecture, Apple gave up OS 9, and the market and consumers were looking for a new build in the wireless internet era instead of tinkering with the version number on the sprawling Symbian code base. Just as Nokia has high hopes for Meego. (Don't think Motorola's drink of poison and thirst for Android can be reborn, can handset makers hold the operating system of the soul of a smartphone in the hands of another business company?) ）

However, Nokia's tangled corporate culture has once again weighed on meego. The Meego, which should have been listed early this year, is likely to have a real product listing by late next. Even when it reaches the expectations of all walks of life, but opponents will not wait, market share will not wait. In the smartphone market, Nokia can only be a new challenger.

There is no irony in the challenger, but we are happy to see Nokia revive. After all, most people do not want a mobile phone like a PC, no matter how different machines, will only run the same Windows (Linux, etc. in the consumer market as does not exist), it will be so boring.

A lot of times, the market opinion is not to the Nokia insult, just anger its not fight it. Nokia needs to face up to its own market situation and forget the world's first. In order to develop a reasonable and effective strategy. As the world's first mobile phone brand, Nokia has the strength to challenge. And Symbian, it's time to say good-bye, but I'm afraid the process of goodbye will be a little long.

News Source: "Beijing Youth Weekly"