Update (9/2/2009): Nokia has since announced pricing for Booklet 3G. It will be available for 575 euros, or about $817 USD.

Nokia announced its virgin entry into an already very crowded Netbook market this morning. The netbook is dubbed Nokia Booklet 3G. nokia-booklet-3g

The mini laptop does have some differentiating features compared to other Netbooks that are currently on the market.

  • Built-in SIM card support and 3G radio
  • Only 2.8 lbs and 0.8 inch thick in an attractive casing
  • 12 hours of battery life.
  • Built-in A-GPS for location-aware applications and maps.
  • HDMI output to support HD video out.
  • Runs Windows 7 with Nokia’s own Ovi suite of applications.

The 12 hours battery life and built-in SIM and 3G support interest us. No pricing info has been announced yet. The promo video looks decent.

But overall, we view Nokia’s entry into this segment as another move that shows the company’s lack of focus. Nokia is still the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, has been steadily losing market share to Apple, RIM and Google as it saw its Smartphone market share drop from 50% to 40% in Q4FY08. The company has been desperately trying to stay relevant but is struggling to appeal to users. But entering the Netbook market hardly seems like a smart move. Everyone knows that there is no money to be made in the hardware. OEMs like HP, Lenovo, Acer, and Dell are all struggling to maintain any sort of margin in Netbooks.

One possibility is that Nokia will price the Booklet as a premium product and try to not call it a Netbook – same path that Sony tries to take with the Vaio P. But that probably won’t work because consumers buy Netbooks because they are cheap, and no matter what you they say, consumers will still think it’s a Netbook.

The other possibility is that Nokia just wants to use the Booklet as a loss leader and get more users onto their Ovi services. I don’t haven’t heard Nokia tout the numbers of active Ovi users so it’s unlikely that the service suite is doing that well. Even if there are users, it doesn’t necessarily translate to revenue.

Good luck, Nokia. Why don’t you focus on doing what you do best instead and improve your phones?

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