Has Nokia lost its way?

It never used to be this way. They were unassailable. The undisputed grand fromage of mobile handsets.

So news today that Nokia has had to pull its new flagship device, the Nokia 5800 with touchscreen that was touted as the response to the iPhone, really is a sign that the times are a changing. The problem, it seems, is with connection to US 3G networks. While Nokia has never really had quite the same penetration in the US as in Europe, this is clearly a blow to a company suddenly playing catch-up in a market it had always led.

As if that isn't enough, operators are also losing faith in Nokia. Orange and O2 are, apparently, both "furious" at Nokia's plans to preload Skype on the upcoming N97. While some commentators venture that this may just be posturing by O2 which is obviously an iPhone house, just the fact that the operators are publicly lambasting Nokia is a sign of the times. Personally, I still struggle to see Skype on the handset as being a major threat to operator revenues, but it is definitely a sign of the wolves at the door for the operators.

So where now for Nokia? Well, the move into the music services play (again looking to play Apple at its own game) seems to be where they're heading. It has always been a battle of the brands between Nokia and the operators, but the battle for the subscribers' cash is also hotting up.

Better late than never?

Finally. Nokia has come out with what is purported to be its response to the iPhone. Oh, and its response to the Android-based G1 from T-Mobile/Google. Oh, and to the Samsung touch screen phones. Oh, and to the ...

Can you see what it is yet, as Rolf Harris would say?

For a company that is the market leader, Nokia's complacency has been stunning in many respects. It seems to have been either blindsided by Apple and Google, or just been unable to demonstrate the rapid innovation that propelled it to its current position. While Nokia has nailed the business market with the E and N series, in the consumer market the threat from the new guys has been a sharp one.

There are clearly some constants emerging across all these devices that point towards where the mobile industry sees (hopes) mobile data will come from. No longer is video the great hope. Social networking and widget-based applications are now the big thing.

If you look at the sort of data usage being reported back from operators who are supporting (and that also means bankrolling giving the slice of cash they have to hand over to Apple), it's clear that these devices are the catalyst for a dramatically increased data usage by subscribers.

Of course, Nokia is making a much bigger play that just shipping shiny phones. Just looking at the other announcements it made at its Barcelona event where it unveiled the N97, and there is news around Nokia Maps, Nokia Messaging and its acquisition of Symbian.

Google v Nokia. It's an OS war. It's a handset war. It's a content war. And looking at the pace of innovation in both companies and their ability to really understand the consumer and where they are heading ... you'd be crazy not to have at least an each way bet on Google to win.