Future fortunes
The company has said it has received ‘a record number of online preorders' for the handset, which will be Nokia's first Symbian^3 smartphone. However, analysts have noted the phone is incredibly important to Nokia in its bid to reclaim some credibility as a smartphone player, so the firm could really do with a slick launch and not a lot of timing confusion.
Nokia's shares have taken a hit since it has failed to keep pace with smartphone leaders Google and Apple and the N8 is tipped to be the handset to change the firm's fortunes. The N8, which notably boasts a 12 megapixel camera, better than most Android handsets and the iPhone 4, was originally said to launch back in June.
Analysts told Reuters the handset is crucial for Nokia's profit margins and could finally be the model to challenge Apple's iPhone.
Analysts at FIM Bank told the news service: "A single device does not normally have a significant impact on Nokia's ... development. But with the N8 the firm has much more at stake."
The bank had warned that another delay to the launch could further tarnish Nokia's image and hit its earnings this quarter.
Nokia unveiled its handset at its Nokia World event a couple of weeks back, but was rocked by a reshuffle of its head honchos. It hired former Microsoft exec Stephen Elop just a few days before its event, who now faces the N8's delay rumours just one week into his new job.
However, HEXUS reported the focus at the event was strongly on Symbian ^3 plus the N8 and forthcoming N9, with the firm insisting that Symbian is better than many commentators are saying.
Yet the firm cannot deny that Symbian has an image problem and any benefit of the doubt Nokia might be entitled to is undermined by its involvement in the MeeGo project. Put simply it's MeeGo, not Symbian, that Nokia expects to be the OS to take on the likes of Apple and Google, and everyone knows it.
So it remains to be seen how successful the N8 will be when it (eventually) hits the shops.
