This week, Nokia lost market share leader position for the smartphone market and things have been bleak for the Finns for teh last few months as Android, Apple and Blackberry have taken the world by storm with integrated solutions, app ecosystems and innovation platforms that far outstrip any appeal that Nokia has with its Ovi offering.

The new(ish) CEO, Stephen Elop, has sent out a fairly brutal, yet frank memo to his staff in prep for the announcements expected this week. This too just days before the 3GSM conference kicks off in Barcelona.

The full memo is below the break:

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I have been in the mobile industry for a short while now & even though I do my best to stay on top of innovation in this sector, its tough because this world turns itself on its head every few weeks or so. Innovation is rife and users’ demands for more services, better hardware, applications and better operating systems have grown exponentially in the last 3 to 4 years.

With iPhone 4 rumoured to launch in SA in September 2010, Nokia N900 and the Nokia X-range doing well in Europe & the massive uptake of Android, its no surprise that South African users have become so demanding.

But on the flipside of all of this hardcore innovation, sometimes it is critical that we sit back and remind ourselves that the best ideas are often the simple ones. Flexicell capitalises on this and offers a super solution to an everyday problem.

Many mobile users in South Africa use prepaid airtime. Many reasons exist why it is so popular and a few of the most common ones are:

• Monthly income and expenses don’t allow affordability of predefined contracts
• Signup criteria requires minimum salary, proof of address, clear credit record, etc and is often a barrier to entry for many South Africans.
• Users prefer the flexibility afforded to them of not being tied into a 24 month contract.

Whatever the reasons are, Flexicell has come up with a brilliant solution to bridge the gap between users who would like a monthly commitment of airtime to be credited to the phones by setting up a monthly debit order based on users affordability. They sell themselves with a mission to “convert prepaid product users to month-to month contract.”.

The service allow for users to opt out with one calendar months notice with no penalties, unlike post-paid offerings from the voice networks like Vodacom, MTN, Cell C & Virgin Mobile.

I’m impressed. Well done for finding the simple solution to the complicated problem, Flexicell.

If you use Flexicell, I would love to hear about your experience.