Before Nokia launched its new 5800 XpressMusic phone in China in the spring of 2009, the Finnish mobile phone giant disclosed the device's specific features to local software developers with which it collaborates. The 5800 would have a touch screen, a motion sensor and plenty of features geared towards young music lovers, including a memory chip that could hold up to 6,000 music tracks. Armed with this information, Simlife, a game developer based in Fujian province, pitched X Dancery, a game that scores players on their ability to tap out a beat to the music from their own music library. Nokia, China’s largest mobile phone maker, liked the idea, and included Simlife's game on its new phone in the country.
Although Nokia develops all its mobile phones for a global audience, the company depends on local software companies, such as Simlife, to develop content geared to Chinese consumers. Gamers in China, Nokia’s largest cell phone market, are often more interested in narrative-driven games and networking, rather than “ball, gun and car” games popular in the West, says Junhong Chen, Simlife’s managing director.
The pressure to attract consumers through “localised” software applications will only increase, says Dan Wong, Nokia's China vice-president of software and services. He believes that as mobile phones become more commoditised, phone buyers will be less concerned with typical hardware features such as talk-time and design. Instead, Nokia will be wooing customers – from farmers interested in grain prices to hipsters looking for better music experiences – through better software. Tapping localised knowledge and the bustling creativity of young, local start-ups such as Simlife is a boon for Nokia.
To make collaboration on software easier, in 2008 Nokia moved Forum Nokia, its division that deals with outside software developers, to its main Beijing headquarters. Bringing its partners inside the company was part of Nokia’s overall strategy to increase collaborative efforts between its multiple divisions and partners such as Simlife.
But much collaboration between Simlife and Nokia also occurs digitally – through electronic forums and emails. This allows Beijing-based Nokia to work day-to-day with a firm like Simlife, located in distant Xiamen.
Mr Chen says that collaborating with companies such as Nokia allows his company to work on high-end innovative projects as well as gain access to technical support and Nokia’s massive marketing channel. Occasionally, Nokia even covers expenses for Simlife employees to attend corporate forums and conferences where both parties can gain exposure for their collaboration and attract new partnerships.
