Nokia 7280 was a phone launched in 2004 which was called the lipstick phone because of its shape [1]. It had won the product-design award as well [2]. Even though there were several indicators that showed the phone could become a success, it didn’t and I believe its bet on the wrong technology was one of the big reasons for its failure.
In ‘7 ways to fail big’ by Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui they discuss how betting on the wrong technology can lead to the failure of companies. In Nokia’s case even though it did not lead to the failure of the company, it definitely led to the failure of one of their products.
Nokia 7280 did not have a keyboard and instead, it had a ‘Navi-spinner’. Every time you have to select a key in the virtual keyboard shown in Nokia 7280’s screen you have to spin the Navi-spinner. Every time you spin it, the next or the previous key is selected. This was released at a time when everyone was used to having a keyboard with the phones. I had a close relative who wanted to buy this phone but didn’t mainly because he was sure messaging someone can become very tedious. I am sure many others felt the same.
I believe Nokia was pushing for improved design at that time, and they wanted to use the same technique on this phone. Even though they came up with a great design, as can be seen by the awards they won for design, the users didn’t get the functionality they required. The users wanted the technology to enable them to type fast which other phones gave and which Nokia 7280 didn’t. What the users didn’t want was a phone that was as sleek as a lipstick.
In making the phone sleek, Nokia also made the screen much smaller. While I was reading the reviews of the phone both by professional reviewers and by users back in 2008–2010, the most common comment was how small the screen was (apart from its lack of keyboard). Many suggested to never buy the phone unless you are a design freak.
Overall, Nokia’s focus on design and style resulted in focusing on the wrong technologies. This made 7280 won awards for innovation, design, and style but lost the most important battle with other phones: to be the user’s first choice.
