HELSINKI--Nokia is targeting 300 million users on its mobile services by 2011, according to Heikki Norta, the company's head of corporate strategy.
In his keynote Wednesday at Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0 conference, Norta said the Finnish phone maker is eyeing the opportunity beyond selling devices, and intends to connect "intelligent devices" to cloud-hosted data.
It will focus on the core services of messaging, map navigation, music and the Nokia Ovi Store to drive its goal to achieve 300 million users, he added.
On Tuesday, Nokia's chief development officer Mary McDowell noted the company's belief that the ability to exchange data with the cloud will not pave the way for thinner devices, but increasingly powerful ones.
Norta in turn predicted that the disparate data online about people will be pulled together in "layers" to give users more relevant information.
This information, he explained, will be structured around "permission-based" relationships between various players from different industries. For example, a location-based service notifying friends via Facebook of a user's location when he is in the area will require a relationship between a mobile operator, Facebook and the device manufacturer, said Norta.
With increased connectivity and the trend of data interconnectedness spreading to emerging markets, Norta said such a scenario would be realized by 2015. "By then, everyone will experience the pull power of being connected in the world," he noted.
Quoting London Business School findings, Norta said a 10 percent jump in mobile penetration corresponds to 0.6 percent rise in GDP (gross domestic product) of a country; a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration adds a further 1 to 2 percent GDP.
Victoria Ho reported from Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0 conference in Helsinki, Finland.
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