Nokia

A Research Protocol for Nokia to Be Leader in Smartphone Market

Business Research Problem

As a leader of the handset industry, Nokia witnesses a slump in its share in the Smartphone segment. Compared with its contenders like Apple and RIM, the Smartphone market for Nokia is becoming dimmer and dimmer. This protocol attempts to figure out the designing of a new mobile phone which is able to make Nokia the most popular brand in Smartphone market.

Research Protocol

At present, in the Smartphone market, Apple and Blackberry are two strong rivals of Nokia (James, 2010). According to Nokia's preliminary estimate, in the first quarter 2011, its market share is 26.2% followed by Apple and Blackberry with figures of 20.3% and 16.1% respectively (Arthur, 2011). Though Nokia is still possesses the No.1 position, its market share has suffered a dramatic decline. However, Apple and Blackberry are becoming more and more popular among customers. To some extent, the two brands have been considered as a symbol of fashion among young generation.

To achieve this purpose, a research design with quantitative approach has been chosen. According to Denzin & Lincoln (2000), quantitative method highlights numbers to measure the key trend or causal relationships between variables. Questionnaire is the most commonly used method of quantitative approach with close and several open questions for respondents to elaborate on their answer. In this research, the questionnaire will be handed out to more than 4,000 interviewees to collect data.

As for research protocol it can be divided into non-mainstream and mainstream protocol. The mainstream protocol includes a focus group protocol, an interview protocol, a survey protocol and an observation protocol (Miller& Salkind, 2002).

Here is the detailed analysis of different protocols.

A focus group protocol is used to describe the situation that a small group of people, usually 6-12 focus on the discussion of a designed topic. It...