The corporate reorganisation, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, creates a new matrix structure in which four business lines - mobile phones, multimedia, networks and enterprise solutions - are overlaid over three supporting groups: customer and market operations, technology platforms and research, venturing and business infrastructure. A source said: "Nokia is currently auditing its marcoms processes. Although no request for proposals has been released, I would expect one before the end of the first quarter."
When contacted, Nokia denied plans for an immediate review. A spokesman said: "At this point in time, there 's no evidence indicating a need for a full-blown pitch."
While Nokia reported stronger than expected fourth quarter earnings globally, analysts said that there were problems, in particular, in China, its third biggest market. According to Nielsen Media Research, Nokia outspends rivals in key Asia-Pacific markets although the spend gap in China closed considerably last year. Dongming Zhang, an analyst at market research consultancy BDA China, said that Nokia's biggest challenge was that its share of the total market was between 15 and 20 per cent, putting it very close to Motorola.
China's Bird and TCL were just below 10 per cent but catching up fast.
"Of greatest significance is that there are too many handset manufacturers, about 36, many of them local brands which have better distribution coverage that is causing the leading players, Motorola and Nokia, to steadily lose share," Zhang said.
Nokia uses a roster of agencies in Asia - Zenith for media planning and buying; Bates for mobile phones; Grey for N-Gage and internet solutions; and OgilvyOne and XM for CRM and interactive.
