In general, for companies that aren't Apple or Samsung Electronics, today's smartphone landscape is pretty grim.

"It is such a difficult, competitive market. The stranglehold that Apple and Samsung have on the market in terms of both units and profits is just leaving crumbs for the rest of the market to fight over," said Pete Cunningham, principal analyst at Canalys.

"The fundamental challenge has been breaking through the strength that Android and Apple have in the retail environment," Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said during a conference call related to the changes.

Ultimately, Nokia has to make its feature phones and smartphones more attractive to consumers. To achieve that, Nokia is betting big on imaging and location technology.

The Symbian-based PureView 808, with its 41-megapixel sensor, has changed the game in photography and will appear in the rest of Nokia's smartphone line-up in the future, according to Elop.