VIVA Bahrain creates a Tipping Point for Nokia 1202

Just after the buzz over the launch of VIVA Bahrain starts to drop and their remarkable offer ( Free SMS/Calls to any VIVA number) coming to an end soon, U noticed lot of people start carrying a second (or third phone). 90% of the time this phone was Nokia 1202.

This small pattern reminded me of a book I read 2 months ago called the Tipping Point for Malcolm Gladwell. The tipping point is a point at which things get nuts without any apparent or enforced reason. For example sales goes up suddenly without any Marketing campaign, Crime level gets low without any increase in the police force, etc. Usually the reasons behind a tipping point share 2 properties, randomness and effectiveness.


So What happened?
When VIVA launched their offer, people start getting the free SIM card. Looking for a temporary cheap phone available, they all seem to stumble upon this Nokia 1202 with a cost of BD 9. They buy it, mobile shops noticing this particular phone sell the most, order even more creating an epidemic.

I know this barely affect Nokia profit, but it was a pattern worth noticing.

I really find the Tipping point is just another alias of the BlackSwan introduced by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A theory I will write about in another post.