I love it when company executives talk smack. This time around, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) UK managing director Mark Loughran said that the iPhone 3GS is a disappointment to many, and the N97's superior camera will push it ahead of the iPhone. I have one question for Loughran, "Have you even used the N97?"This is classic. There's nothing like an executive bad-mouthing a competitor's product. Here's what Loughran said:
The new iPhone is an evolution rather than a revolution and for people trying to decide whether to get a Nokia N97 or an iPhone, it comes down to a decision on performance and value for the money. The new iPhone seems to have the same design and color, upgrading from a sub-standard two-megapixel camera to a still low 3.2 megapixel camera, and is probably a disappointment for many people, given the high tariff and lifetime ownership costs.Um, what? First off, Mr. Loughran is from the U.K. I am not familiar with the subsidized cost of the N97 nor the iPhone over in the U.K., nor what tariffs the respective wireless carriers are charging on a monthly basis for those two devices. I have a hard time believing that the sale price of the devices are all that different, however. In the U.S., the iPhone 3GS can be bought for as little as $200. The N97? Try $700. Leaving that cost argument aside (because we can't produce an apples-to-apples comparison), there are more holes we can poke in Mr. Loughran's statements.
It is true that the iPhone 3G's 2 megapixel was bordering on sub-par. The new 3.2 megapixel camera, in comparison, takes excellent pictures and beats the pants off of the 3.2 megapixel cameras I've tested in several Nokia phones (E71, 5800 XpressMusic). Furthermore, the 5 megapixel camera of the N97 performed just as bad as the iPhone 3Gs's camera in low-light situations -- even though it has a flash.
Loughran is right to point out that the iPhone 3GS is exactly the same shape and colors as the iPhone 3G. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. To whit, the iPhone has been imitated by just about every phone manufacturer on earth -- including Nokia!
Beyond all of that, however, is the usability of both devices. The N97 and its S60 5th Edition software are horrid across the board. It is extremely underpowered, slow to respond and the user interface is the worst, half-baked thing I've encountered in a long time. From a day-to-day usability standpoint, the iPhone 3GS is a clear winner.
According to the report in Symbian-Freak.com, the N97 is off to a solid start in the U.K. U.K.-based operator O2 has said that the iPhone 3GS is its best-selling iPhone model to date.
Which will win? We're going to have to wait for quarterly report from both Nokia and Apple to find out.
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